


Wake Me Up When Trebuchets End

by murundelnys666



Series: Trials and Tragedies [3]
Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Star Wars - All Media Types, Trials and Trebuchets (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 166
Words: 158,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murundelnys666/pseuds/murundelnys666
Summary: A city at war. A girl training to become a Sith. A pirate looking for revenge. A cat looking for a new life. A zombie who wants to end the universe. Five magic school students forced to save the day.This is the end of the Trials and Tragedies trilogy.
Series: Trials and Tragedies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553143
Comments: 48
Kudos: 21





	1. a new version of an old friend

**Author's Note:**

> AN: welcome to the third book in the Trials and Tragedies series!! If you haven’t read the first two, then wtf??? Go read them! You’re gonna be so fucking lost. If you have read the first two, welcome back! Glad to have you here!

I walked through the fields of grass and corn and corn and stuff. They were growing plentiful this year, far more plentiful than anything i could’ve possibly imagined. I haven’t seen this much crops ever in my life, though mama says that before the war everytning was this full of crops always. I hope some day i get to see that. 

I swiped the sweat off of my forehead and looked up. You could barely see the moon, partially covered up by the pure gray walls that surrounded pitter and penetrated the horizon. One of the hard parts of being a vampire farmer is that the only time you could really actually do any farming is during the knight time. Sure there were some vampires out there who could walk during the day for whatever reason but here iw as, stuck to the darkness of night. It’s not like i HATED it. But i do wonder what it would be like to see the sun for once. 

I walked bakc inside the pathetic little wooden hut. Dad had built it before he left and mama didn’t really know how to upgrade it. As if we had the money to upgrade it. Still, it was home. I walked over to the doorside table and lit the candle onthere using my fire magic. Finally, i could see. 

My name is Saphire Moonlight God Spell and i’m 14 years old. I’m a vampire, in case you couldn’t tell. I have bright turquoise hair and pale white skin and bright red eyes, like my mama. I don’t go to any school because there’s not a school for me to go to anymore. I live in a place called Pitter. It’s a nice place. A simple place. But apparently it used to be so much more. 

I sat aside on the table. I could hear my stomach growl. I was hungry for blood. Mama would be back soon. She was currently in the middle of a show, i’m pretty sure. Maybe if we were lucky she would bring some home to us. I could use a little bit of luck right now. 

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. 

Mama?? 

I opened the door excitedly and was then let down. It wasn’t mama. Instead it was a man. Some sort of creature i’ve never seen before. He was a small man, only slightly shorter than me, with one eye and filled with scales. He looked nervous. He was shivering up and down. 

“Sapphire?? Is that you??” he said in a shaky voice. 

“Uh, yes,” i said. I glanced him up in down. It was hard to get a read on him. “May i help you?” 

“Oh thank the Gods,” he said. “Look, m-may i please come in? It’s so cold out here and who knows when the… inquistors are gonna get here.” 

“The inquisitors??” i squinted my eyes. “You’re not from around here, are you?” 

“No, i’m not! And you gotta help me! If you don’t help me, i’ll die and all of this will be for nothing!” 

I looked him up and down. Mama might be mad if i let a stranger into the house. But… she might also be mad if i didn’t help a person in need…. 

I opened the door wider and stepped aside. “Okay, you can come in.” 

“R-really? Oh, thank you! Thank you so mu- AH” On his way in, the figure has slippd and tripped on the table next to the door, causing one of the legs to snap and the whole thing to lean and bend over. He picked up the table leg. “Oh geez i’m so terrible terribly sorry” 

“It’s fine,” i said, trying to figure out how exactly i was gonna fix that without mama getting mad. He held the broken off table leg in his hands. 

“Do you mind if i take a seat?” he said as he took a seat. 

“Uh, not at all. So, uh, can i get your name?” 

“Oh!” he jumped up, almost startled just by the meer suggestion. “My name is Teb. Tebethy, for long. And you must be Sapphire?” 

“Yes. How do you know my name?” 

“Do you hae a cup of milk of somehting?? I’m so thirsty from my travels”

“Oh, uh, ‘yeah sure” i said as I went to the kitchen. We had at least bottles of elemental milk. Mama and i couldn’t drink it because if you give a vampire milk they’ll die of human fluids. But it was good to stockpile it for those who are needy. I poured some into a cup and handed it to him. 

“T-thank you very much,” he said as he took a small sip of it and set it down. He was still carrying the leg of the table. Poor thing. Looked so nervous. 

“So, how do you know my name?” i asked again. 

“Oh, yes, well.” he took another sip from the milk and then wiped the mustache off of his face. “Us nothics, y’know, we have this weird insight thing adn it told me.” 

“Oooookay,” i said, taking a seat across from him at the table. “So… .why are you here, Teb the Nothic? Why are you so interested in me” 

“Yes yes well, you see, i’m less interested in you.” His eye widened and then he quickly added. “Uh, no offense.” 

“None taken.” 

“But yeah, i’m not interested i n you. rather , i’m interested in that… gem you found.” 

I gulped. I could feel a bead of sweat run down my face again. 

“Gem?” i said. “What gem?” 

“Did you not find a gem while going through the fields the other day?” he squinted his eye at me. 

“Uh, i mean, no” i said, lying like a liar. 

“Don’t lie to me, Sapphire,” teb said, extending the hand of his that wasn’t holding the table leg and putting it on top of mine. “I understand why you’re nervous. I would be too, in this scenario. But you can trust me.” 

I felt his weird scaley hand on mine. It wasn’t an… uncomfortable feeling? His hand was shaking still, but it was still a bit calming. 

I looked away from his eye. “... what do you know about the gem?” 

He retreated his hand. “Oh, lots. My friends and i tried to find all of them like it when we were kid. I guess you can say it was our FATE to find it.” 

Weird how he said it like that but ok 

“Do-do you know what it is?” i asked. 

He rasied his brow. “Do YOU know what it is?” 

I looked at him. I wanted to lie but found myself unable to. “N-no.” 

“I figured as such…” teb said, his voice shaking. “Oh dear, then i’m glad someone like you found it. If someone who knew of its power got a hold of it, gosh, that would be terrible…” 

“Its power?” 

“Oh yes!! Yes yes yes!! That orb is extremely dangerous!! Too dangerous!! You shouldn’t have it!!” 

“W-why shouldn’t i??” i said. I was starting to feel just as scared as teb was. 

He leaned in close. “Something like that is bound to be pursued by powerful men. Powerful men who will use it for dangerous, dare i say, maybe even deadly purposes.’ 

I gasped. “You don’t mean…?” 

He solemnly nodded. “It’s why the moment i heard that the gem was found, i knew i had to do what i could to sneak into pitter and try to make sure it hadn’t fallen into bad hands.” 

“Am… am i bad hands?” 

“What??” he yelled. “Oh no no no no no dear, no. i’m so sorry. Of course it’s in good hands with you. Although…” 

He paused. I looked at him, raising my brow. “Although..?” 

“Although, i must be honest with you… i was sent here for reasons other than just inspection….” 

He looked away, beginning to look sad and even more nervous. “What’s wrong?” i asked him . “You… you said you came from out of pitter?”

“Yes!! Yes teb does!! Let’s just say… i’m working to try to end the war.” 

I jumped up. “You’re with the resistance??” 

He nodded. “Indeed i am. And i’ve been told by my superior that if we could get our hands on the gem, if we had that power… maybe finally….” 

“The war would be over…” i said, trailing off. Imagine. A world where we weren’t always at war. Teb snapped me back to reality. 

“I’m sorry, dear girl, but you don’t mind… if i… look at the gem, do you?” 

I blinked. It took me a second to register his request. He wants the gem?? I mean… it shouldn’t hurt to have him just look at it, should it? 

“Hold on just a sec,” i said as i walked over to my bedroom. I lifted up the mattress pad that had been placed on the floor and grabbed the gem. It was an okay looking gem, i guess, one that looked primarily like basic rock except for the glowing green emerald parts inside of it. 

I walked back in, the gem behind my back and stood in front of teb. I slowly, nervously, placed the gem in front of me and rested it in both of my hands. Teb’s eye widened. 

“Oh yes, yes yes yes yes,” Teb said, looking at it with bright glwoing eyes. “Oh it’s so shiny… and uncut…” 

“I’ve never met a resistance fighter before…” i said. He wasn’t really paying much attention, i could tell. Too distracted by the shiny object. figures . I continued anyway. “Must be a hard job…”

He finally noticed and snapped out of it. “Oh, uh, yes. But y’know what they say. There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing.” 

There was something about that phrase that was… familiar. Where did I hear it from?? And then it hit me. 

“WAIT!” I yelled. “Do you kno-“

My question was interrupted by a large knock on the door. Frighteningly large. So large I was thinking the whole door would break down. 

“Oh geez, oh man,” Teb said, somehow shaking even more than before. “I told you the inquisitors would find us soon…”

“The inquisitors??” I said but then Teb shushed me. 

“They can probably hear us through the door,” he whispered. “Sapphire, do you know how to use that gem there?”

I looked at the rock I held in my hand. I couldn’t lie to him. “Uh, no.”

He looked at me with his eye and held my hand with his free hand. “Dear girl, we can get out of this together. If you hand me the gem, I can use it to take them out…. you trust me, right?” 

I looked at him. I had just met this man, did I trust him enough for this? I mean… he was a resistance fighter and he apparently knew…. The knocking continued, interrupting my train of thought. 

“Dear girl,” he whispered. “If the inquisitors come in, we’re dead regardless. This is our best chance. Don’t you wanna see the wall come down?”

I looked him over. He was shaky. I could tell he was just as nervous and scared as I was. I felt bad for the poor thing. Could he really bring himself to take down the inquisitors? But he was right… there was no better option

“Okay….” I said as I put the gem into his free hand. 

He held it up to his eye and looked at it closely. “Thank you, Dear girl.” Then he took the table leg in his other hand and impaled it into my chest. 

Oh god oh god oh god oh god

I fell onto the ground with a sharp thud. I looked down and saw the blood spewing out of it, the leg halfway into my heart. I tried to pull it out but I wasn’t strong enough. Eventually I lost the use of my arms all together…

Mama… I’m so sorry…

Teb stood up straight now, a different air about him. One of confidence and reassurance. The door finally opened and two inquisitors, tall golden rock men, stepped into the wood cabin. 

“What took you so long?” Teb said. “God, I had to distract the damn girl for so long.You’re lucky I didn’t break.”

“Sorry, sir,” one of the inquisitors said in a small voice. “The tunnels took us even longer to get through them we thought.”

“Whatever,” Teb said, rolling his eye. “Did any of you bring my coat? It’s fucking freezing.” 

“Oh, uh, yes sir,” the other inquisitor spoke up. He tossed a long black leather jacket to Teb, who put it on effortlessly. 

“Thank you,” Teb said. He looked over at the other inquisitor. “Now you, you have a special mission. Run back to the castle and tell Grand Emporer Corka that we have the gem but he best prepare his best jewlerrs. The gem is uncut.”

“As you wish, Chief Inquisitor Tebetby,” The inquisitor said with a bow as he rushed out of the room. I tried my best to yell and scream but all that came out was a gurgle. The other inquisitor walked over and kneeled over me. He placed a hand in front of my mouth 

“It appears she’s still breathing, sir,” The inquisitor said. 

“Ugh, what fucking ever,” Teb said. “Just use your hammer or whatever the fuck you rocks use.”

The inquisitor nodded and stood up. He pulled what appeared to be a stone hammer. He lifted it over his head and began swinging it down 

Mama… I love you… I love you so m

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip Sapphire


	2. first day of first year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ahhh it’s good to be back! There’s a lot to catch you up on, but we’ve got tiem, so why rush?

Hi my name is Raven Willow Blood Charm and I’m 17 years old. I have long blue hair and a hook for a hand and pale white skin kinda like a dragon born but not really because I don’t think Dragon Borns are that cute. I am a high schooler at a school, but not a lame one. I go to this school called WildSith. It’s a sith school where we learn sith magic. They let me in, even though I’m a vampire witch, because my adopted father was Sheev Palpatine

Class would be starting soon so i needed to get ready. I rolled out of my bed, which was a standard dorm bed with its black bed frame and its red bed sheets and it’s gray colors. I stood up and did my nmorning stretches. Stretches are important because you never know when someone might try to kill you so you gotta be super nimble in case you have to run away (even though I would never run away from a fight, i’m too fuckin cool for that). I bent over and touched my tippy toes and It was then that i knmew i would have to get ready. 

I looked at all of my clothes. I had a wide range of options, from black to gray black to red black to black but leather and i decided to go with a gray black bodice with long black gloves, my black cloak, black thigh high boots and my super handy security belt with my lightsaber which i attached to it. Don’t wanna lose this. It’s the most vital part of my life. I then reattached my hook. 

Ugh. I hated not having a hand. Surprisingly, i used to have both of my hands, then my bitch ass fucking Clone decided to cut it off just because I was trying to kill her. That fucking bitch. She would pay for what she did. Not right now becuase I had class to go to, but…. Soon. 

Another hard part about not having my right hand anymore is it made putting on makeup even harder than normal. So many times i tried to do my basic winged eyeliner and end up poking myself in the eye. It makes so much sense now why so many pirates have eyepatches. Eventually, i was able to get all my face done, and now I was sporting a hella fresh look of red eyeshadow, black winged eyeliner, heavy countouring on my pale white face, deep black lipstick to make my white skin stand out even more, and black lines on my cheek. Oh fuck yeah. We were going for it. I looked fucking hot. 

I grabbed my lightsaber on my belt just to make sure it was still there and i grabbed my backpack and walked out, ready to start the day. Wildsith was on a planet named Exogul, where it was always rainy and stormy and snowy and ashy, which is why Sith wear cloaks all the time. I pulled my cloak over my head and began to walk across the campus. It was all going to be so easy until I saw someone bump into me. I looked up to see who it was. It was…… Murderdeen Purebone!! And he was walking this way!! 

“Get lost, bitch,” Murderdeen said as he spat on me and kept walking. 

“Y-yeah, you too!” i yelled back, super cooly. Yeah I sure did show him. Fucking Murderdeen. If only he knew I’ve murdered him before. I kicked some dirt on the ground in defiance and hten i made my way to class. 

I sat down in my class like i normally do. My new best friend, Mi’ra was there. She was a half elf with dark skin. She wore bright red lipstick and heavy heavy makeup to accent her features and make her look scary and stuff. 

“Oh hey, your name is Raven, right?” she said, turning to me. 

“Mi’ra, we’ve sat next to each other for three weeks,” i said, slightly hurt. 

“Oh right.” She took out her ancient tomes. “Crowigami told me that Murderdeen spat on you in the courtyard.” 

“No he didn’t!!” i yelled. “If murderdeen spat on me in the courtyard, i would kill the fuck out of him!” 

Mi’ra just laughed. “As if you could ever kill Murderdeen” 

“What the fuck ever,” i said as i flipped open my book. But then i paused. “.. ddddddoooooo you wanna go to lunch after this?” 

Mi’ra just looked at the watched on her hand. “Uh, fine, i guess.” 

We finished up with the rest of class that our professor, Darth Birsk, was telling us. It was just a fuckin history course. This was all so dumb. I don’t need history. I need to learn how to murder the shit out of things. Thankfully finally class was over and we made our way to the dining hall. 

We wlaked into the great hall, a giant room with gray walls and the red banners of the school drooping downwards. We sat at a table and made plates of food. 

“Alright newbie,” Mi’ra said as she put more porg meat onto her plate. “If you’re here, I’m gonna need to introduce you to my friend group.” 

“Your friend group??” i said, trying to pretend i didn’t recognize the three other people we were sitting with. 

“Yeah.” Mi’ra pointed to the gnome, the tiefling and the very tall human sitting at our table. “This is Winslayer Wallaby, Iniquity Idleberry and Severepth Sinderman.” 

“Pleasure to meet you all,” i said, lying and giving a wave. They looked about the same as they always do, minus the darker makeup and black get up. 

“Whatever,” iniquity said. “You gonna eat your green stuff?” 

“Uh no?” 

“Cool.” she took it off of my plate. 

“You look familiar,” Winslayar said in his typical southern drawl. “Have i seen you before?” 

“What? Uhhhhh no,” i said. “I mean you maybe have just seen me around campus.” 

“Yeah,” Mi’ra laughed. “Like maybe earlier when Murderdeen spat on her.” 

“WHAT??” i said, shocked. “Mi’ra, don’t just go telling people that!” 

“Murderdeen spat on you? What a fucking prick,” iniquity said. “A cute prick, but still a prick.” 

Mi’ra swallowed her bit of porg meat. “Yeah, I was telling her she should murder him for that.” 

“You should!” severpth yelled, her voice faltering a bit. 

“Oh look who _now_ cares about murder,” Winslayar laughed. “We could’ve used that a while ago.” 

“What is he talking about?” i asked, looking around confused. 

“Oh, right,” Mi’ra said. “You’re new. So a few months ago, we were visiting the Plane of Sithathil for our class field trip, right? And part of it involved forming a coup and dismantling the government and you had to have at least one confirmed kill. And then little miss goodie goodie rich girl over there just REFUSED to kill this guy and because of that, fuckin’ Yelm got to walk away free and we all failed our group test.” 

“It sucked ass,” iniquity said. “Got my pet voucher taken away and everything.” 

“Look, Marchund, I did what i could,” Severepth said. “I totallyw ould’ve killed him if my rolls were good enough.” 

“Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, Sinderman,” Mi’ra yelled. “If i didn’t know any better, I think you were going all Jedi on us.” 

Severepth slid her chair across the table, stood up, reached for the red lightsaber on her belt and unleashed it, holding the blade up to Mi’ra’s neck. “You wanna say that again, you piece of shit?” 

Mi’ra took out her lyresaber and strummed some notes which caused a blade of light to appear from teh side. She made it clash with Severepth’s. “You heard me, you dirty nerf fucker.” 

Suddenly two crimson jeeds came over to us. “Students! Separate this at once!” they said. 

Mi’ra and Severpth looked at each other before sheathing their sabers again. Severpth turned around and pointed to me. “She started it.” 

One of the Crimson Jeeds turned to me. “Raven Willow Blood Charm, I’m afraid I must ask you to come with me to Chancellor Underbough’s office.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh a new school year! A new story! Hope y’all are excited! Leave reviews if you enjoy where this is all going!


	3. where are we going?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dylan and i went to the mall the other day and he showed me all the snapbacks i can buy now

Once you abandon the rubble left behind you, you might have to face the idea that there’s fuck all to go in front of you. You’re doing nothing but walking into an endless oasis, just holding out hope that eventually you’ll find the place you’re wanting to go. 

It fucking sucks

Hi. My name is Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. I’m 19 years old. I have short brown hair that falls in waves and emerald blue eyes. I’m not gonna lie, I’m hot as fuck. It’s narcisstic to call myself the prettiest one in the room, but I mean, fuck it, I am pretty attractive. 

I didn’t always look like this. I used to be an exact clone of this one vampire girl, Raven Willow Blood Charm. She’s a real bitch. Kind of a loser too, if I’m being honest. The first thing she ever tried to do was pimp me out to some dragonborn boy she wanted to date and then said she killed me. And I tried to defend myself, do what I could to teach her a lesson and keep myself alive…. 

Okay, in hindsight, a lot of my actions then were REALLY embaressing. Like ugh 

But then the bitch knocks me the fuck out, uses the chaos emeralds in my stomach to rewrite my memories and change my body so that I look like someone else entirely, and then make me and everyone else believe i was an entirely different person going to a train school. 

It was fucked up. Really. 

Thankfully i was able to wake up, get my memories back, go through my redemption arc, and survive a train crash with my friends. 

Oh, speaking of my friends…

I could see them walking in front of me. They were a team, back in the original universe we were from. The half elf Mira Machund, the tiefling Integrity Idleberry, the gnome Winsler Wallaby, and the very tall human Serinepth Sinderman. Together, they called themselves SWIM. It was a good group name. As we walked endlessly into the sunrise, I tried to think of a way to incorporate myself into it. VIMWS? VSWIMS? MIWVS? 

Why was it so impossible for V and SWIM to go together?? 

“Are we close yet??” integirty whined. 

“I don’t know!” said serinepth. 

“My feet are tired!” said integrity. “Can’t we just stop and take a break?” 

“ _Your_ feet are tired??” winsler said in his southern accent. “You have longer legs than me. I have to work twice as hard to keep up with y’all.” 

Serinpeth rolled her eyes and picked up winsler and carried him. “Look, we can’t stay here. We don’t know this universe. We don’t know what all creepers and monsters lurk here at nighttime. We need to find somewhere safe.” 

“And,” winsler added as he snuggled up in Serinepth’s arms and began petting his cat, Mr. Wiggles. “The sooner we find shelter, the sooner we can get to Pitter or Patter or Whatever.” 

I noticed my best friend Mira wasn’t saying anything. I walked besides her and spoke softly to her. “Hey, you doing alright?” 

“Hm?” She looked like as if she had been in a daze, distracted by something. “Yeah. No. Yeah. I’m fine.” 

I could tell that she was lying. One, because I was good at that sort of thing. Two, because Mira was a shitty fucking liar. “Are you still thinking about Delnys?” 

Mira huffed and looked into the horizon. “I mean. Yeah. I guess. How could I not?” 

Mira in the original universe, and I guess in basically all universes except for the Straight Ones, had been crushing on a girl named Delnys Raethran. That extended into this universe, the train universe, where the previous Mira was in a long term relationship with Delnys. But then Train Mira sold her soul to Macavity the Mystery Cat (long story) and through a competition with Seltie (even longer story) my version of Mira came back. But Delnys didn’t know that… when she found out she was… crushed, to say the least. And the bitch blew up the fucking train and left us to die so she could go fuck off with her zombie father. Ugh, to think I used to help that bitch out. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” i said to Mira. “We’ll find where Zombie Elrich is and we’ll kill him, again, and we’ll talk some sense into Delnys and she’ll come back to us.” 

“You think so?” Mira asked, her voice shaking slightly. 

“Yeah, of course,” i said. Or we’ll kill her. I mean that’s not the preffered or ethical option, but I mean, shit the stakes are pretty high. 

Mira gave a light smile at that. “Well, at least the voice in my head has stopped for now.” 

“Oh fuck yeah! THat’s great!” i said, giving her a side hug. “I mean it’s not great that Sarah died but, like, y’know, you get it.” 

“Yeah, haha,” Mira said, returning the hug. 

“Want me to hold your backpack for you at least?” i asked, looking at the wild cliff express backpack mira was still wearing. 

“Nah,” she said. “I need to carry this weight myself.

We kept walking. It was mostly really fucking boring, if I’m being honest, but y’know, walking. I tried to make small talk with the others but when I went up to talk to Integrity she just said “Not in the mood, Elm Rune.” Which, like, fair, but you don’t have to be such a bitch about it. 

Okay, like, I did shoot her but that was a whole other book ago. 

Winsler, meanwhile, had fallen asleep in Serinepth’s arms. Serinepth, being the tallest of us all, was leading us effortlessly, having no issue staying in front. Which is good because fuck if I know where I’m going. But then suddenly, as we were going up a hill, Serinepth stopped us. 

“Everyone! Be careful!” she said. 

“Why? What’s up?” integrity asked. 

“Take a peak and look,” serinepth said, pointing to the bottom of the hill. 

We all went up there and as we crossed the top of the hill, we saw what she had noticed: a collection of lights in the distance. It was hard to make it out fully, with it beign far away, but if I didn’t know any better, if i concentrated my eyes enough, it looked like… a town. Or a village, more like it. 

“Wait a second,” integrity said, moving away from us to something on the side I hadn’t noticed. It was a sign. A sign with an arrow pointed to the sign that said “LIGHTMERE” 

“I know where that is,” Integrity said. “That’s where Silvi came from.” 

“Well then what’re we waiting for?” i said, rushing over the hill. “Let’s fucking go!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Welcome back Veronica! I missed you! Leave reviews if you missed Veronica too!


	4. born in light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i had dinner with dad and Janet last night. It was nice. They’re cool. Dad… still doesn’t know yet. Or at least, I don’t think he does.

We walked through the streets of the town. It was a weird place, a kinda small rinky dink town. Though I didn’t really have many points of comparison. I’ve only ever lived in a school and in a train so this was fucking wild. 

“Holy shit, they have a whole shop for toys??” i yelled. 

“Uh, yeah?” integrity said. 

“Do we have time to stop in there?” winsler said. 

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” serinepth added. She was probably right. People were giving us weird looks. To be honest, I can’t even imagine what I look like right now. Probably a huge fucking wreck. We did just survive a train wreck and spent the whole day walking through bullshit. But also I could stare at them, see how they like it. So I did. But as I looked at them, i was just reminded of him...

Ugh, get a grip Veronica. That wasn’t even the real him. The real him is dead.

Again. 

Ugh. Whatever

“Sooo” mira said. “If we’re not going to the toy store, then… where are we going to?” 

“Somewhere safe,” Serinepth responded. 

“Toy stores are safe,” Integrity said. 

Winsler hopped out of Serinepth’s arms. “Yeah, I mean, you would never see an enemy at the toy store.” 

Mira inched towards it. “Plus it’s not like we have anywhere else to go.” 

Serinepth sighed. “Fiiine. We can go to the toy store!” 

Everyone woohooed and ran into the building, except for Serinepth, who walked with slow reluctance. I followed behind, eager to see what a dragonborn toy store would have in store. 

But first…

“Excuse me, sir,” I said to the dragonborn working the register. “Do you happen to have a bathroom in here?” 

“Hm?” he said, looking up from his magazine. “Oh, uh, yes, right in the back.” 

I went to where he pointed and walked into the bathroom. I did my business and then I walked over to the mirror to wash my hands for twenty seconds, humming a song. 

_“Macavity… Macavity… there’s no one like…”_

“Macavity?” i heard a voice say. I turned around behind me to see a cat like man standing there. 

“Macavity!” i yelled. “What the fuck?? You can’t be in here, this is the ladies’ room.” 

“Dragonborns have gender neutral bathrooms, dumbass,” Macavity said. He walked over and in between my legs. 

“Get away from me,” i said, using my leg to kinda motion him away. 

“You look a bit… dishelved, Clone Raven,” he purred. “Anything happen recently? Train crash, perhaps?” 

I picked him up by his neck fur and held him up to eye level. “First off, my name is Veronica and if you call me Clone Raven again I will kick the shit out of you. Second, yeah, the train crashed, no thanks to you.” 

“Hey! That wasn’t me!” macavity blinked his eyes and he dissapeared from my hand and reappared on the sink. “That was your zombie friend there. That sure did come out of nowhere. I don’t think anyone planned for that to happen.” 

“Yeah, no shit,” i said. “So if you don’t mind, I have bigger fish to fry. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re irrelevant.” 

He looked genuinally hurt by the statement. He clutched his human shaped paw to his chest. “Me?? Irrelevant?? But I’m Macavity! THE Macavity!” 

“Yeah you’re some dumbass fucking cat,” i said. “Right now I have one person who wants to kill me, one who wants to kill my friends, and another who wants to kill the whole universe. All you want to do is just be a whiny little bitch about things and get a new life because you want one or some shit. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go hang out with my friends and try to figure out shelter for the night and how to get to Pitter or Patter or Whatever. So, fucking bye.” 

I walked out of the bathroom door and i could hear him yell behind me. “Wait!! What about Mira? I still have her soul! I’m a threat! I’m a threat! I’m a thre-” 

Then I couldn’t hear him anymore. 

I walked over to the others, who were currenlty hanging by the plush toy section. Mira was messing with a tiny piano while Integrity was checking out the price tag on a stuffed squirrel doll. Winsler was holding up various plushes to Mr. WIggles to see which ones he would react to. Serinepth, meanwhile, was just putting her thumb under her nose, wiggling it. She looked bothered, somehow, but whatever. I remembered the dragon plush I had on the train. In my false memories, my father had given me one. I guess that didn’t actually happen… but still, it was nice to have it. 

Mira walked over to me. “Oh cute, that’s like the one you had back on the train.” 

“Yeah, guess so.”

“Do you want it?” mira asked. 

“I don’t have the money,” i said. 

“That’s not what i asked. I asked if you wanted it.” 

I nodded my head yes and mira took the stuffed dragon and put it inside of her backpack. Thankfully, no one saw us, I’m pretty sure. She was zipping it back up when we heard a loud deep voice yell, “HEY!” 

“I didn’t fucking do it this time!” i said, out of instict. I turned to see the voiced belonged to a dragonborn man. He had a dark brown mustache and was swearing a green sweater. He was accompanied by a female dragon born, with primped up brown hair and a light blue sundress on. 

“Oh, uh, sorry there,” the man said in his Canadian accent. “Didn’t mean to startle you there. I was just curious, is that a Wild Cliff Express backpack you have there?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Mira said. “It is.” 

“Oh!” the woman yelled. “Our son goes there! Do you know him?” 

“W-who’s your son?” i asked. 

“Oh, I’m so rude, I forgot to introduce myself,” the man laughed. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fred Purebone, and this is my wife, Kathy Purebone. Do you all know our son Murundeen?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: awww it’s the parents! Leave a review if you love parents!


	5. a meeting with the chancellor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ugghhhh classes may be cancelled soon, this suuuuucks

The crimson jeeds threw me into the office room . I looked up at the very very short man who looked very familiar. He was a balding halfling man wearing a long black cloak that covered up most of his jude law face.

“Mm, Raven, you are?” he said. 

“Y-yes, Chancellor Underbough,” i said, looking up at him because i was thrown on the fucking ground. 

He stood over by his desk. “Mmm. Great disappointment, I see.” 

“I’m sorry but you have to understand, I didn’t do i-” 

“Raven, understand, you must. A great chance, I took on you. Your father was palpatine, was he not?” 

“Y-yes, he was, bu-” 

“And a failure to him, you are.” 

“I mean…” i looked down. “I wouldn’t say failu-”

“Tragic backstory, you do have. Very good sith backstory. But do you have the ladyballs to live up to his reputation?”

“I do!!” i yelled out. “I am a well skilled sith lord! I’m gonna do so good at Dark Side shit!” 

“Then prove it, you must,” he said, stepping over to me. “Assign you to a new group, I will.” 

“A new group?” i looked at him, very confused. 

“Yes. Familiar with SWIM, you are? In their group, The Black Parade, I will put you.” 

“The Black Parade??”

“Yes, with their group, you will be. Their assignemnts, you will recieve,” he organized some paper on his desk. “Now, get the fuck out of my face, you will.” 

With that, he force pushed me out of the room and into the hallway and shut the door in front of me. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh a new Underbough! Leave a review if you like Underbough!


	6. join the black parade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’ve been texting alec a lot recently. Still haven’t come out to him, though.

I walked back down to the courtyard, pissed off as fuck. I can’t believe Chancellor Underbough disrespected me like that. Didn’t he know who I was?? I’m Raven Willow Blood Charm, motherfucker, and I deserve to be treated with respect and appreciation and adoration. I am not a piece of shit to be thrown outdoors and tossed to the fucking wolves and treated like shit. 

Speaking of shit, I saw my best friend, Mi’ra, chilling at the courtyard. She walked up to me. 

“Oh, Blood Charm. It’s you.” she said, walking up to me. 

“Oh, hey, Mi’ra. I’ve got good news. I’m-”

“Part of The Black Parade now? Yeah, I know.” 

She looked really pissed off. I examined her face. “You don’t… mind me being in The Black Parade, do you?” 

“ Do I?? We’re already the laughing stock of all the Sith groups here, we already have a weak link with Severepth, and now I have to carry around your newbie ass who can’t even do basic Sithlord shit.” 

“I so can do basic sith lord shit!” i yelled in defiance. 

“Oh yeah?” Mi’ra squinted her brow at me and cocked a smile. “Then force lightning me.” 

“Force lightning?” I stepped back a bit. 

“Yeah. Force lightning me. Right now.” 

“But… It’ll hurt you.” 

“Just do it, fucking nerd.” 

I held out my hands, squinted my eyes and puffed out my jaws, waiting for the lightning to come… but it didn’t. 

“Just as I figured,” Mi’ra said, chuckling to herself. “You’re fucking worthless.” 

“It’s not my fault!!” i yelled. “My Clone!! She got all of my force powers!” 

“Your clone?” Mi’ra said, a bit interested. “You have clone?” 

“Yeah…. It’s a… long story…” 

“Clones are cool,” Mi’ra said. “Only persons I’ve known with a clone is Professor Snoke and Professor Luuke.” 

“Yeah well this Clone sucks. She cut off my hand.” 

“You lost your hand in a battle??” she said. “That’s badass as fuck. Every sith dreams of losing their hand in lightsabre combat.” 

“Oh yeah, it was on top of a train. It was raining. It was the whole thing.” 

She looked at me, her eyes widened, before she shook her head and regained her composure. “Okay, so maybe you’re cooler than I thought you were. But you still have a lot to go, Blood Charm.” 

“I know. I know. Fuck. I just wish I could learn the force, like my clone learned magic.” 

“Well, how about this,” Mi’ra said. “You’re part of The Black Parade now. I can teach you force shit. Then, you wont’ be as weak of a link to us anymore.” 

“You mean it??” i looked at her. Omg. I can’t believe she was being nice to me!! It’s been so long since someone has been nice to me. 

“Yeah, duh, I wanna win. I wanna top those Inquisitors.” 

“The Inquisitors?” 

“You haven’t heard of them??” mi’ra said. “God you’re more fucking dumb than I thought. Here, let me see if I can find them.” 

She took my hand and guided me around the campus until we were back in the cafeteria. It was there that I saw a girl, a really familiar looking girl, with dark black hair. She was wearing all black clothes and wraps around her arm. She was talking to a human dude and a dragon born woman. 

“That’s the Inquisitors,” MI’ra said, pointing to them. “Hurt Orlaine, Sithvilax Light-Sun, and Reyven Palpatine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ohhhh shit! A new team! Leave a review if you’re rooting for them!


	7. like looking in a mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I texted Alyssa a funny meme that reminded me of her and asked her if she’s read the newest story yet. She said not yet but she’ll get to it soon!

I looked at the girl. No way. She couldn’t be??? But…. A girl named Raven (or Reyven, pretty close) that was a daughter of palpatine?? What were the odds? She… she had to be me from this universe!! 

Which means… she would want to be friends!! 

walked up to her, all giddy and excited. She was talking to her friends, laughing, but as soon as she saw me approach, she looked at me with silent disgust. 

“Oh,” she said in her british accent. “You. I don’t know your name.” 

“You’re Reyven Palpatine, right??” i said, super excited. 

“Yes. Why? Does that bug you?” she looked at me with angry eyes. She had her dark hair in three buns and was wearing dark black lipstick and heavy eyeliner. 

“My name is Raven and I’m a daughter of Palpatine, but from a different universe!” i said, excitedly. 

“Wow, good for you,” she said. “You want a fucking treat or something?” 

“Well, I think that… maybe you’re the version of me from this universe??” 

Everyone at the table laughed. “Oh god, as if I could actually be related to some low class sith scum like you.” 

“Huh??” i said. “But… but I am!!” 

“And maybe you are,” she laughed. “But why the fuck does that concern me?” 

“Because… because we can be friends!” 

She held out her hand and I could feel something grip my throat super super tightly. It was like I was being choked. I couldn’t feel my feet touch the ground anymore. I was just floating in space. Finally, she let me down. 

“Dude, what the fuck??” i said. 

“Oh sorry, “she said. “I just thought a REAL child of Palpatine would know how to counter a force choke. But I guess I was wrong.” 

Everyone else at the table pointed at me and laughed. 

“This… this is bullshit!!” i yelled. “I deserve more respect than this!” 

“Ugh, you’re still here?” Reyven rolled her eyes. She held up her hand and waved it in front of my face. “You want to go back and leave us alone.”

Suddenly a new wave of thoughts overcame me. “I want to go back and leave you alone.” 

She waved her hand again. “You want to never talk to us again.” 

“I want to never talk to you again.” 

“You want to go home and fuck yourself with your lightsaber” 

“I… want to go home… and fuck myself with my lightsaber.” 

I don’t know why, but for some reason I felt compelled to leave them alone and never talk to them again. In fact, I want to go back to my room. I walked away, ignoring the snickers of them from behind me and started walking to my room before Mi’ra grabbed my arm. 

“Dude, what the fuck??” she said. “You just joined my group and all of the sudden you embaress us like this??” 

I snapped out of my daze momentarily. “Wait.. what just happened??”   
  
“You got force choked, dumbass,” Mi’ra said. “God, you’re so fucking helpless.”   
  
It took me a second to put it together but then it hit me. “Oh my god, that fucking bitch!!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ooooh Reyven seems unpleasant. Leave reviews saying which you prefer more, Raven or Reyven


	8. meet the folks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: sorry i haven’t been writing as much. Things have been… crazy.

“Murundeen??” Mira said. “Murundeen had parents??” 

“Why of course, dear!” fred said, giving a hearty laugh. “Everyone has parents! Have you ever met a person without parents?” 

I gave a little wave. “Uh, me, technically.” I held out my hand to shake theirs. “Sorry, I shoud introduce myself. I’m Veronica Sonya Elm Rune.” 

“Elm Rune? Never heard of you before,” Kathy said. “Are you one of the new students?” 

“Yeah, uh, something like that.” I shook Fred’s hand and he squeezed it hard so I squeezed his even harder and he flinched a bit and pulled his hand back.

“So uh, who’s your friend here?” Fred said, rubbing his hand. 

“Oh hi! My name is Mira Machund”

“Oh Freddie!!” Kathy yelled. “That’s her! THat’s that Mira girl that Deeny was always talking about!” 

“Now now, dear, don’t embaress the poor kid,” Fred said and I was curious what kid he was talking about. “But yes, Murundeen has told us a lot about you.” 

“He… he has??” Mira stammered, looking red. 

“Oh lots of things!” Kathy interjected with. “Oh he’s gonna be so tickled white when he hears that we finally got to meet the girl herself.” 

“Hahaha yeaaaaaaaaaaah,” Mira said, backing away awkwardly. “Uh, what all do you know about… y’know… things?” 

“Things?” Fred pondered. “Well, I mean, we don’t know much about things. Is there something worth hearing about?” 

Oh fuck. They didn’t know. They honestly didn’t know. 

Not about the crash. Not about the everything. Not about…. Their son’s own murder. 

Fuck. 

I had to come up with something to tell them. 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” 

Fucking smooth, Veronica. 

Thankfully that was when the others walked over. 

“Sup, nerds, who’s this?” Integrity said. 

“Oh I guess we gotta introduce ourselves again!” Fred chuckled. “I’m Fred Purebone and this is my wife, Kathy!” 

“We’re Deen-y’s parents!” Kathy beamed with a smile. 

“Ohhhhh” serinepth said. “Oh dear.” 

“I take it you’re from Wild Cliff Express too??” Kathy asked. 

The three of them looked at each other. Winsler finally spoke up. “Uh, yes, yeah, yep.” 

“Wonderful!! Just wonderful!” fred exclaimed. “We knew there were tracks close by but geez, what are the odds of all of this happening” 

“Haha yeah wow no kidding,” Integrity said and then leaned over to Serinepth and whispered. “What should we do?” 

“Awkwardly small talk,” serinepth whispered back. 

“What’re you chatterbirds whispering over there?” kathy said. 

“Nothing!!” Integrity said up, lying. Suddenly we heard a loud noise. A very very loud and dangerous growl. 

Winsler looked down at his stomach and rubbed it. “Oops, sorry. Since I got put in jail i didn’t get to eat any tiny sammiches at traincoming.” 

“Jail?” kathy asked. 

“It’s a euphemism!” Integrity said. “It’s what the cool kids say these days. It means, uhh…. To do really really well in your classes!” 

“Well that’s just splendid!” Fred smiled with pride. “Congratulations, sport!” 

“T-thanks?” Winsler looked confused. 

Kathy lit up. “Oh but you’re right. You poor things must be starving!! Here, come back to our place and we’ll fix you up some supper!” 

“Oh no no no no no, we can’t!” serinepth said, waving her arms around and backing away but Fred wrapped his arm around her. 

“Nonsense! Any friend of Murundeen is a friend of ours!” he then ruffled her hair. “Besides, we already got what we needed here.” 

“What are you here for?” i asked. 

“Oh, this toy store changes stock every week so we thought we’d stop in and find something to surprise murundeen with when he got home for the summer!” Kathy reached into her bag and pulled out a plush toy of a turtle. “We got him this little guy!!” 

Jesus christ 

“Anyway!” Fred yelled. “Come on! Our house isn’t too far from here!” 

We all looked at each other and I could tell what they were thinking. At least, I hope so, idk. We didn’t really have any better option, and this was better than just wandering around. Plus they were right, I was super fucking starving. 

So we all began walking behind Fred and Kathy, waiting to see where they were taking us. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you want to be invited to the purebone house!


	9. our house in the middle of our street

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: everything is shut down now… no more school… i haven’t seen anyone in a while…

They lead us to a nice looking two story blue house in the middle of a surburban neighbhood. Fred took a key ring out of his back pocket and used it to unlock the door and open it up. 

“Welcome to the Purebone residence!” he said, stepping aside so we could get in. “Please be sure to wipe your feet on the matt before you come in!” 

I looked down to see a welcome matt that said “BONE SWEET BONE” on it and whiped my dirty ass boots on it. Not like it would do much, but at least it wouldn’t make things worse. I walked in. 

It was a basic house. I think? From what I know about houses? 

There was a living room with a suede couch and an old timey radio. There were a bunch of lamps everywhere and glass displays of various trinkets and books. On the walls were framed photos of two young dragon borns, probably a young Fred and Kathy and some with a young baby dragonborn. 

I squinted looking at it. “Do you, uh, have any other kids besides Murundeen?” 

“Nope!” Fred said, walking over to look at the picture on the wall. “We always wanted another but well, sometimes bodies don’t just work out the way you want do they?” 

“Oh yeah fair….” Could I have kids? I’m not sure… 

Kathy walked up besides me. “Besides, once you get a kid as sweet and caring as Murundeen, how can you ever top that?” 

“Hahaha yeaaaaah” mira said. 

Kathy looked at the giant wooden clock. “Oh! I better start on supper. You folks make yourselves at home!” 

We all sat uncomfortably on the sofa while Fred took a seat on the recliner. He reached over to the stand by the chair and pulled out a wooden box. Opening it up, he grabbed a pipe and began packing it. 

“I hope y’all don’t mind if I smoke,” he said. 

“Not at all!”Serinepth said. She licked her lips. “Actually, do you mind if I take a hit of that?” 

“Of course I don’t mind! What sort of host do you take me for?” He packed the pipe, lit it and handed it to her. “I didn’t catch your name, tall girl.” 

Serinepth took the pipe and took a hit off of it and coughed. “My name is Serinepth Sinderman, sir.” 

Fred took the pipe away from her. “Sinderman? Like the oil tycoon??” 

Serinpeth looked confused. “I guess so?” 

“Ah good man, good man. Rich man,” Fred said. “Very very rich. Very rich. Very very very rich. And who might you be?” He pointed to Integrity. 

“Oh I’m integrity Idleberry. I’m Serinepth’s cousin, I think.” 

“You think?” Fred pondered. 

“Well you can never know for certain,” integrity nervously chuckled. 

Fred squinted and looked at the two of them. “I can defintely see the resemblence! And you, my tiny friend?” 

“Oh I’m winsler and this is my best friend, Mr. Wiggles!” 

“Splendid. Just splendid. Does Mr. Wiggles want a pipe hit too?” 

Wiggles made a meow that I swore sounded like a “yes” but Winsler just said. “Nope. No he doesn’t.” 

Kathy walked back into the room. “Ladies and gentlemen and the rest, dinner is ready!!” 

We all got up off of the couch and made our way to the dining room. There sat seven plates and 8 chairs. Each plate was filled with this weird pasta that I could recognize as

“Spaghetti??” i yelled. “Oh fuck yeah, I haven’t had spaghetti in ages!” 

“You’ve had spaghetti?” Mira said as we all took our seats. 

“Oh yeah, Murundeen… gave me some…” 

“Oh so you did know murundeen?” kathy said, filling her cup with wine. “Were you two close?” 

“Somethign like that, yeah” i said as i used my fork to toss around my spaghetti.

“What’s he up to these days?” Fred asked. “We haven’t heard from Murundeen in ages.” 

“It’s so hard for our son to send us letters from the train!” kathy beamed with pride. “Yet our murundeen never misses a letter! Makes sure to mail us every month!” 

“Except for last month…” Fred said, filling up his cup with beerr. “We figured he was just busy. Start of school and all that” 

“Still! We’re curious. How is he doing? Is he eating well?? Who did he take to Traincoming??” Kathy leaned over. She looked at Mira in particular. 

Mira looked weird. “Hm? Are you… looking at me?” 

“Wellll you would know, right?? Murundeen talked so much about you, I can only assume you two were the best of friends. Or maaaaybe even closer?” 

Fred interrupted. “Now now, dear, remember: she has a partner.” 

Kathy blushed. “Oh gods! I’m so sorry. Tell me, how are things going with your girlfriend?” 

Mira’s eyes got watery. She wiped them with her napkin. I had to step in. 

“Hey, uh, can we go ahead and start eating?” 

“Oh right!” Fred laughed. “Darling, would you like to lead us in grace?” 

They closed their eyes and held their hands together. This was weird as fuck but we all replicated them because we don’t wanna be fucking rude. 

Kathy spoke up. “Stivus is great. Stivus is good. Let us thank him for this food. Amen.” 

“Amen,” we all repeated and then we dug into our plates. 

OH MY GOD 

This tasted so good. I missed this. I forgot that spaghetti used to be my favorite food. I mean, it was HER favorite food and i just inherited it from her. 

Fucking bitch but whatever. 

Fred finished his bite. “So when do you kids go back on the train?” 

“We can’t,” integrity said. 

“Can’t?” kathy asked. “How come?” 

Integrity was going to answer but then serinetph interrupted her. “Oh because uhhhhh we’re on a specialtiy field trip.”

“A field trip? Oh wow! Haven’t had one of those in a while,” Fred siad. “Though I didn’t think they did field trips to Lightmere…” 

It was my turn to talk. “Well that’s because we’re not supposed to go to Lightmere. We’re actually trying to figure out how to get to our actual destination.” 

“And where’s that?” Fred asked. 

Winsler slurped his spaghetti into his mouth. “Pitter or Patter or Whatever” 

“Oh! I know those places!” Fred said. 

“You do??” we all said, a bit stunned. 

“Of course! We used to take murundeen there so he could do his high school science fair project!!”

Kathy smiled. “It was about bees! He got an A”

“So you know how to get to Pitter or Patter or Whatever?” I looked at him, expectedly. 

Fred huffed. “Welllllllllllllllll me personally? No. There is a way to get there but only the chieftain has access to it.” 

“So let’s go talk to the chieftan,” Serinepth said, chugging her wine. 

“Can’t, I’m afraid.” Fred wiped marinara sauce off of his mustache. “It’s currently nap time for him. You’ll have to go in the morning.” 

Integrity almost choked on her spaghetti. “Morning?? We can’t wait that long! We don’t even have a place to stay!” 

“Oh dears! You can just stay here!” Kathy said. “That’s alright, right deer?” 

“Of course!” Fred exclaimed. “We love to have the company. Though our house is a bit small. We only have four guest rooms. I’m sure Murundeen doesn’t mind if one of you kids sleep in his room, though.” 

“Of course not,” i said. “He wouldn’t mind.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you want spaghetti


	10. light up my room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’ve been trying to text alyssa. It takes her hours to respond. I guess I can’t be mad at her, though.

I sat down awkwaredly in the racecar bed. I had to set aside several stuffed animals from it just to get on it without crushing anything. Thankfully Murundeen had a shelf i could put them on so they didn’t have to touch the floor. 

This room was fucking weird. It’s weird being in the room of a former lover. Especially when that lover is one from another universe and also dead. I walked around and examined things. There were basic stuff. Mystery books. A dresser where all of his clothes were. I had already been through that earlier, when Kathy told me i could change out of my dirty clothes and wear some of Murundeen’s to bed if I wanted to. That’s where I found this super large Luten High shirt and these plaid pajama pants. Not gonna lie, it was pretty comfortable, especially compared to what i was used to. 

I saw a picture of a yound dragonborn boy in a baseball uniform, posing with a bat behind him. There were several trophies besides it for various sports, from baseball to football to American football to lightball to science fair. They were all participation trophies. This fuckin kid. 

I found on his desk a bunch of old notebooks and papers where he used to draw. Murundeen liked to draw? I guess this one did. Geez. There were a lot of drawings, some of them shitty crayon drawings, some of them okay pencil sketches, and the others being elaborate ink doodles. 

I laid down on the bed, hoping that I could get to bed, but I had a problem: i had to piss. So i got out of the room and went over to what I thought was the bathroom. I went to open it but the door was locked. I could see that the light was on inside. I gentally knocked. 

“Get the fuck out of the bathroom or I swear to God I’ll piss in this hallway.” i said. 

But then I stopped knocking. Because I could hear what sounded like… crying? And not just any crying but… Mira? 

“Mira, what’s wrong?” 

I heard sniffles. “N-nothing.” 

“Mira you’re a shitty ass liar. Open the door now and tell me what’s going on.” 

There was a bit of silence and then I heard someone jimmy with the doorknob. It opened up and there stood Mira, in similar oversized clothes to mine. Her eyes were red and her face was wet. 

“Am… Am I a shitty person?” she murmerred. 

“What??” i yelled, wrapping my arms around her. “No! Of course not!” 

“But… but I’m such a fuck up!!” she said, between tears. 

I released her from my hug. “Hey, let’s take this to my room. How does that sound?” 

She gently nodded and I guided her back into Murundeen’s room and locked the door behind us. I sat on the bed criss cross applesauce and patted next to me on the bed, showing her where to sit. Taking the hint, she sat down too. 

“Now,” I said, looking at her. “Is this about Delnys?” 

She just began crying. She let out a slight hiccup. “It’s just… it’s not just her! What if I’m just a bad person in general??” 

“Mira, you and I know that’s not true.”

“But how do I know?? I mean two of the people closest to me both turned into complete villains and probably never want to see me again!! And it’s all my fault.” 

I never really considered that part of the equation. “... you miss Raven?” 

“Of course I do,” mira said, choking up. “She… she was my best friend….” 

“Right…” I sighed, feeling slightly hurt just remembering that. “But hey, if it wasn’t for you, I might still be… y’know…”

“Evil?” 

“Welllll evil is a pretty strong word that carries a lot of complicated interpretations… but yeah….” 

Mira wiped some tears from her eyes. “Y-yeah, you’re right… I just… feel like shit…. And i feel like such a fuck up.” 

“I get that, I really do. But hey. It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get through this. You’re an amazing young woman. One of the best people I’ve ever met.” 

“You haven’t met that many people though…” 

“But you’re still the best of them all. You’re worthwile. Remember that.” 

Mira smiled a bit. Atta girl. “T-thanks Veronica.” 

“Of course.” I smiled at her. “Say, what if we set up a blanket on the floor and had a sleepover? How’s that sound?” 

Mira lit up. “Yeah! That sounds great!” 

And so I took a blanket off of Murndeen’s bed and threw it on the ground. We took turns going through Murundeen’s things and letters and laughing and it was great and eventually, we both fell asleep on the floor, next to each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: awwww how sweet. Leave a review if you love to see a good friendship


	11. meeting the chief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i haven’t gotten to talk to mom yet… i really hope she’s okay in all of this

I woke up next to Mira on the floor. I poked her in the forehead. 

“Hey, Marchund. Time to get up.” 

“Hm?” she said, her eyes fluttering open. “When did we fall asleep?” 

“Fuck if I know but we better get a move on.” 

She huffed. “Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.” 

I saw that on the chair at Murundeens’ desk were a bunch of folded up clothes. I picked it up. It was our clothes from Beyond Zed, cleaned and washed. Thanks Kathy. Or Fred. It could’ve been either of them. But it was probably Kathy. 

I stepped into the closet to change into my clothes and then I came out of the closet and saw Mira. 

“Hey, you didn’t have to go in their to change, y’know,” she said. “That being said, move, I need to change too.” 

I stepped aside and she closed the door behind her. Finally she stepped out, changed into her clothes. I went with her downstairs and saw the rest of the group sitting at the kitchen table, eating apples. 

“Morning!” Fred said. “I didn’t want to wake you but there should be enough waffles for everyone!” 

“Thanks,” I said as i took the waffle and stuffed it in my mouth. They looked at me strangely. 

“Usually we eat those with syrup,” Integrity said. 

“Really?” I said. I took some of the syrup and poured it into my mouth. It was an okay flavor. Yeah I guess it pairs okay. Serinetph just rolled her eyes. 

“So when are we heading to the chieftan?” Winsler asked. 

“As soon as you all finish eating,” Fred said. “I have to go into work anyways.” 

“Thanks for letting us stay with you!” Mira said. 

Kathy perked up. “Oh it was no problem, my young lesbian girl!” 

We all finished up our waffles and then Fred grabbed his coat from the coat rack and his fedora. 

“I’ll be back soon, honey!” he called out to Kathy. 

She came up and gave each of us a hug. “It was a pleasure to have you here! I’ll miss you all! Please give Murundeen our regards!” 

“Don’t worry, I will,” I said, finishing up hugging her. And with that, we walked out the door. 

We followed behind Fred, who was walking back from the suburbs and back into town. It was there that we saw what looked like a giant house. Fred held open the door and lead us in. We were in a room with a front desk and a dragonborn woman working it. 

“May I help you?” she asked. 

Fred spoke up. “I have a group of people here to see the Chieftan.” 

“Do you have an appoitnment?” 

“No??” Fred said. “I mean, I didn’t think we would need to.” 

“Hm.” the woman said. She reached for the phone on her desk and pressed a button. She began to speak into it. “There are several people here to see you, sir… Yes, sir…. About five of them… one a tiefling, one an elf, one a gnome, once an average looking girl, and one very tall woman with scales…. Yes, sir…. Yes she has scales…. Yes actual scales, not the cha-ching kind…. Okay, sir.” 

She turned and looked towards us again. “The chieftain will see you now.”

Fred tipped his fedora to us. “Well, I guess this is where we part ways.”

“Bye Fred!” Mira said. 

“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” Serinepth said. 

“Ah, don’t mention it! Just make sure to tell Murundeen all about your adventure so that he can write to us about it!” 

We all looked awkwardly at each other and then I just nodded and said. “Yeah, of course. For sure.” 

Fred walked out of the building while the dragonborn receptionist walked us behind the desk and into the back room. She guided us down hallways until she came across a door and opened it. “Sir, your visitors are here.” 

Sitting on the floor, playing with a bunch of action figures, was what looked like a young dragon born kid wearing a crown and a bunch of robes. He looked up at us and smiled. Well, I say us. He was mainly looking at Serinepth. 

“Woaaah it’s true!! Real scales!! Like a dragon!!” 

“Uhhhh i mean kinda?” serinepth said, blushing. 

“Hey kid, you can flirt later,” I said. “Do you know where the chieftan is?” 

“Oh right! I’m sorry! Where are my manners!” The boy stood up, straightened his back and bowed. “Hello! My name is Ax and I’m the chieftain of Lightmere!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ahhh it’s Ax! Leave reviews if you’re happy to see him!


	12. a pretty sharp ax

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I keep talking to alec over and over again! He’s so funny and cool. He called me pretty.

“Chieftan?” i looked at this pipsqueek in front of me. “But you’re so… young??” 

“Hey! I JUST turned 11!” Ax said. “Besides, I won this position fair and square after my grandpa died in combat.” He walked up and stood on his tip toes to look at Serinepth. “I haven’t seen a real dragon since… ever!! And that’s a LONG time ago!” 

“I’m uhhh” serinepth said, blushing. “I don’t know how ot say this.” 

“Look kid,” I stepped up. “We’re here for a very important reason.” 

“A top secret reason??” Ax narrowed his eyes. “Like… secret spy stuff?” 

“What? What are you…? No, no. We need to get to Pitter or Patter or Whatever.” 

“Oh!! In Isathill!!” Ax said excitedly. “Wow!! I haven’t gotten to go to Isathil yet!!” 

“But can you get us there?” Mira asked. 

“Hm? Hmmmmmmm” he squinted his eyes even harder. “I mean, CAN I get you there? Yeah sure sure.” 

“Cool!” Winsler said. 

“But WILL I! That’s a question isn’t it!” 

Integrity huffed in frustration. “Look, please, can we just get out of here?” 

“Y’all interrupted my toy time!” Ax said. “I expect great reimburment if I’m going to take you all the way to Isathill.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Okay twerp, what are your demands?” 

He held a finger up to his lips. “Mmmmmm Well. I’m going to need that kid over there to join my secret service club.” He pointed to Winsler. 

Winsler looked confused and pointed to himself. “Me? Wha-” 

“Done.” I said. “Is that all?” 

“Oh no!! No no no!!” ax said. “See this solves another problem of mine because I’m supposed to marry a dragon.” 

“A dragon…?” Serinpeth looked perplexed and then it hit her. “OH no. no no no no no no no.” 

“I’m gonna need your hand in marraige so that I can put a ring on it when I get a ring. I mean right now I don’t have a ring but once we’re married i’ll def get you one.” 

“I can’t marry you!!” serinpeth said. “You’re, like… a toddler!!” 

“Serinetph, girl.” I pulled her aside. “Look, I don’t wanna pimp you out to a child but I will pimp you out to a child if it means saving the multiverse.” 

Serinetph looked at the group, all in expectation and she huffed. “Fiiine. We can get married.” 

“YES!” ax said excitedly. “Okay, so now i can teach you how to get to Isathill!” 

“Is it… hard? “Integrity asked.    
  


“Hm? Nah, you just gotta take the plane to isathill.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Oooh glad they’re engaged now!! Leave a review if you ship Serinax


	13. i can fly twice as high

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: sorry it’s been so long. It’s so hard to write given the… everything. Most of the time i just stay in bed, listen to music, and hope everything ends up okay.

“THIS is the plane of isathill?” wiknsler asked. 

“Right you are, fellow secret society member! This is called a plane! I know yo u might not have seen it before, but they’re like trains or go-karts except they go through the sky” ax said as he slapped the side of the small blue personal plane. Dragon wings were painted on the plane wings. It was rusty and shit and kinda looked like it aws about to fall apart. 

“Wont’ that thing fall apart as we ride it?” integrity wondered. 

“Nah, it’s good! We’ve used these things for years! Easiest way to let kids take field trips! Although…. I don’t know if anyone has been to isathill in my lifetime. I think travel there has been banned by my grandpa? Weird.” 

“Huh. I wonder why.” Mira asked. 

“Me too but oh well! If my future wife needs to go there, then that’s where we’re going!!” 

“Right hahahahahahahaha” serinepth said, turning a beat read. 

“And you’re SURE you know how to pilot this thing?” i eyed him, suspiciously. 

“Of course I do! I’m 11, not 5. I can fly a plane just as good as the dragon ancestors could in my blood!” 

“Uh-huh. Alright, well, shotgun.” I sat down. 

We all took our seat in the plane, winsler sitting his in the booster seat and then the door closed behind us. Ax sat down in the pilot’s seat. 

“Wow this is gonna be so cool!” he said, pressing buttons. “Dragon lady this is like… our first date!! With a bunch of third wheels here too!!” 

Serinepth just blushed. Integrity grinned. “Wow, yeah, Serinepth. You sure are lucky. This sure is gonna be romantic.” 

“Shut up…” serinpeth whispered. 

“Gosh, what a wonderful love story. It’s just great.” Mira said. 

“Please…. Stop…” serinpeth said. 

“And here we go!!” ax pushed the Isathill button on his dashboard and suddenly the plane boosted forward, through space and time. 

I coudln’t see what was around us, just blue streaks, as if we were travleing at light speed. It was super fucking weird. What was weirder was the turbulance of it all. The plane was shaking like crazy. 

“Is that normal?” i asked. 

“Hm? Oh yeah i think so!” ax yelled over the sound of the engine. 

“Does everyone have their seat belts on??” serinepth asked. 

“Babe! Don’t be silly!” ax laughed. “What do we need seatbelts for?? The seats aren’t going anywhere!” 

“Okay we’re fucked,” Integrity said. 

“We’re not fucked yet,” I turned around to her. “It’s just a bumpy ride. What’s the worst that could happ-”

BANG

There was a vilent bang that left the plane shaking for a few moments.

“Uhhhh I’m not gonna lie, that scared me,” Mira said, shaking. 

“Oh stop being little bitches,”I said. “We survived a train crash, we can survive this t-”

And then the plane broke. 

The middle part of the floor gave way, separating the plane into two halves. I couldn’t quite see the back half and where it went, only that it was falling. Oh, and we were falling too, because we didn’t have wings. 

Ax was panicking, super super hard. “Im pressing every button and none of them are fixing the plane!!” 

“Way to go, genius!” i said but then my chair broke off from the floor of the plane and i came spiraling down, out of the blue field and into the sky, where i could see myself qucily fall towards the ground and then I blacked out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no!! Leave a review if you hope everyone is okay!!


	14. the no clothes emperor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I really wish there was something good happening right now. Something at all to give me hope.

Teb walked into the rooftop office. “Sir, he has returned back.” 

The tall black rock elemental looked up from his desk. His yellow eyes glowed, pieces of rock chipped under them from his years of work. His eyes matched the crown which he wore halphahzardly upon his head. “HM? Oh, good. Good. Very good. Very very very good. How do I look?” 

“Very kingsly, my dear Emporer,” Teb said with a bow. 

“Okay. Fuck. Bring hi m in then. Let’s go. Bring him in.” 

Teb walked away and opened the door to the roof top and brought in the random orange stoned elemental soldier. The soldier immediately took a knee. 

“Grand Emporer Corka!” the soldier said. 

“Oh fuck all that grand emporer shit, stand the fuck up,” Corka said, pulling the man up from his shoulder. “Do you have it?” 

“Do I have it…?” the soldier asked. 

“DId I fucking stutter? Am I fucking mute? Or are you just fucking deaf?? Do you fucking have it or not??” 

The soldier paused. “I… I don’t have it.” 

Corka blew in air threw his nose. “You don’t have it?” 

“No, but sir! You gotta understand!” the soldier got on his knees and pleaded. “The lead we got was false. I had my men search up and down and up and down and up and down for days and we didfn’t find anything even resembling a gem. But we can look again, all over this continent. Just give us the word!” 

“Ahhh fucking hell,” corka said. “What did I say ab out being on your knees? Unless you’re gonna suck my rock then get the fuck up and stand you bitch.” 

The soldier stood up. “Sorry, sir!” 

“ANd quit fucking apologzing. You fucked up. So what? We all fuck up every now and then.” Corka walked over to his desk. 

“So… you’re not mad at me sir?” 

“Mad at you? Har, you’re one of my best torturers. My top men. My prized fighters.” Corka wrapped his arms around Har, squeezing him into a tight hug. “I lov e you. I love you so fucking much.” 

And then Corka pushed Har away. And he started punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And with every punch, more of Har’s face blasted off into little pebble chunks that fell on the floor, creating a stack of rocks, and befor elong, Har’s face was just left busted and unrecognizable. Corka threw the corpose across the room and sat down at his desk. 

“FUCK!!!” Corka yelled as he slammed his head into the desk. “FUck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.” 

“Hey now!! Sir!!” Teb said, hopping onto the desk and then onto the back of Corka’s chair. “What’s the matter?” 

“It’s so fucked up!” Corka cried, tears streaming down his yellow eyes. “I try so fucking hard!! I do so fuckign much for everyone! And what do I get? Half ass fucking bullshit!!” 

“Oh you poor poor thing!” Teb said, beginning to rub Corka’s shoulders. “I can assure you, you’re doing so SO well.” 

Corka sniffled. “You mean it?” 

“What? Yes! Of course!!” Teb said. “Patter has never been better, the people love you, we have the strongest military. And don’t forget that you already have one piece of the Earth Angel.” 

Corka kept crying and hycupped. “Y-yeah. I guess so. But FUCK. I wish I had all of htem. If I just had all of them now, life would be so fucking easier!!” 

Teb massaged harder. “In due time, in due time. You just gotta have some patience!” Teb took his right hand away and searched through the pockets of his black coat and pulled out a small round metal container. “Guess what I have?” 

“The grinder??” corka said, looking at it, his eyes focused on it in amazement. 

“Yes! What do you say? Would you like some?” 

Corka wiped some of the snot out of his nose with his stone wrist. “Aw, fuck it. Sure. Let’s go.” 

Teb hopped off of Corka’s back and walked over to Har’s body. Pulling a knife out of his pocket, he lifted up Har’s right hand and cut off one of his fingers. Teb then opened up the metal container to reveal and interior of spikes. He placed the finger inside and closed the container up, spinning it around and around again. Then he walked back over to the desk, opening the container and spreading the orange powder on Corka’s desk in front of him. 

Corka took out a small tube out of his desk drawer, held it over the powder, and snorted it up his nose. He inhaled deeplly. “WOOF! FUCK! That’s, fuck, that’s some good shit. Fuck, if I had known Har would be that good, I would’ve… FUCK… I would’ve done it sooner.” 

Teb smiled. “Excellent, sir. Just excellent. I’m so pleased to see you in a better mood.” 

Suddenly there was a knock on the rooftop door. Corka rolled his eyes. “Ugh, who the fuck is it??” 

A small and meek rock solder walked in and, seeing the body of har on the floor, nervously pushed it aside. “Uh, sorry to interrupt sir. But I have something I have to report.” 

“Well what the fuck is it? Tell me already!” Corka said, wiping some of the orange powder off of his nose. 

The soldier gulped and spoke up. “There’s been some sort of crash. A plane crash, we think. So far we’ve found two survivors. A very tall woman and a very short boy.” 

“So?” Corka said. “Just fucking kill them. Who gives a fuck.” 

“Well, sir, you see,” the soldier said, nervously. “Uhhh the clothes they are wearing, well… they have items on them that make me think they’re from The Wild Cliff Express.” 

Corka slammed on the table, causing the powder to scatter. “The wild cliff express?? FUCKING hell, talk about burying the leads! Why the fuck didn’t you say so?” 

Corka stood up and walked to the door. Teb looked nervously. “Uh, sir, what are you doing?” 

Corka just smiled. “I think our new guests deserve some kind of a welcoming party.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh corka. Leave a review if you think Corka is a scary dude


	15. in the white room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec and i have been texting more and more. Same with me and dylan. It’s good to hang out with the boys

Serinpeth woke up in a daze and blinked a bit. Where was she? The last thing she could remember she was in a plane and then she was falling super super fast and then next thing she knew she woke up here. She sat up and looked around, feeling her body ache as she did so. 

The room she was in was pure white. White floor, white celing, white bed she was laying on. Was this heaven? Nah that was silly. She’s died before and she knew that she wasn’t going to heaven. Plus she didn’t bleieve in god. 

She held onto her ribs. Ow. Ow ow ow owie. Suddenly the door opened. A very tall rock man walked in. 

“Oh good! You’re awake!” the rock man said, stepping up to her and feeling her head. “And your fever dropped too. That’s good. You were scorching when you got in here.” 

“H...how long have I been here?” Serinepth said. 

“Oh about four or five hours!” the man said. “To be honest i’m very surprised by your recovery!” 

“Yeah well I”m not one to be brought down so easily,” Serinpeth said with a smile and then winced at her ribs again. “I’m sorry, can I get your name?” 

“OH right! Sorry. I’m Inquisitor Yelm. And your name?” He held out his hand. 

She shook it. “Serinepth. Serinepth Sinderman.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, Serinepth Sinderman!” yelm said, pulling his hand away. “Oh! I almost forgot! You little friend is awake too!” 

“My little friend?” serinepth wondered, a bit confused. 

“Yeah! Hold on!” Yelm stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He gave back a few minutes later with a very short, glasses wearing man. 

“Winsler!!” serinetph got out of bed and hugged him, which was super hard because of the super big heigh difference. “How did you get out of there okay?” 

“That car booster seat really helped! Barely got a scratch on me OR Mr. Wiggles” Winsler returned the hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

Serinpeth pulled back. Her brain thought for a sec ond. “Where are the others?” 

“Others?” Yelm said. “All we found was you two, your seats, and some few scattered metal parts.” 

“No no no that’s not good,” Serinpeth said, pacing back and forth through the room. “We were traveliing with four other people.” 

“Oh. Oh geez.” Yelm said. “This is very very not good.” 

“Yeah tell me about it,” Winsler said. “We should leave and try to find them.” 

“Woah now,” Yelm stood up. “I kno w it’s very important to you, but I’m afraid y’all willhave to stay for a llittle bit longer.” 

Serinetph got suspicious. “Whyyyyy?” 

  
“Because the grand emporer, Corka, has requested your presence for dinner.”    


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i realized last chapter that i forgot to rip har so let me just do that here, rip Har


	16. dinner for two (and others)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i tried to call mom but she’s not picking up… i hear the hospitals are really busy right now

Corka was sitting at the end of the long brown table, Teb by his side (like always) when he saw the others walk in. Yelm first, followed by the tall blakc haired girl and her short dark haired friend. 

“Oh fuck yeah! You made it!” Corka said, excitedly. “I see you have met my brother in law already. Hope he’s been treating you well.” 

“Oh, uh yeah,” Winsler said. “He made us some hot cocoa during the wait.” 

“OH fuck sorry about that,” Corka said. “Fuck I didn’t mean to make you wait so long. I’m so sorry. Fuck. Please don’t be mad at me.” 

“No no it’s fine!” serinpeth said. “We, uh. We needed the rest time.” 

“Oh. Right. Right right right right.” Corka banged his rock fist on the table. “Well, what the fuck are you waiting for? Take a seat! Please!” 

Seripneth and winsler looked at each other, a shared look of skepticism. But nevertheless, a bit worried about the everything going on, decided to take a seat anyway. 

“Oh fuck, where are my manners??” Corka said. “My name is Corka. I’m the Grand Emporer. And your names are?” 

“Serinepth Sinderman” 

“Winsler Wallaby.” 

“Oh fuck yeah,” Corka leaned back. “That’s cool as fuck. Just super… really fucking alliterative. Your parents did a good job, y’know, naming. And also i guess the fucking part.” 

“Thanks?” Winsler said. 

“Of course!” Corka smiled. 

Teb wrapped his arms around the emporer. “So. What are you doing in Patter?” 

“HEY NOW!” Corka removed Teb’s arm. “They just fucking crash landed. Give them some time before we do the whole fuckin’... y’know. I mean, for fuck’s sake we haven’t even had the dinner yet.” 

Teb rolled his eye. “You’ere right. Sorry, my lord.” 

“Fuck yeah you are,” Corka turned his gaze to the students. “I take it you two eat actual food and not rocks??” 

“Yeah I usually don’t eat rocks,” Winsler said. “I mean i did once or twice as a kid because I was curious but I didn’t do it too much after that.” 

“Great!” Corka screamed. “I have my chefs preparing some food. It’s been a while since they’ve made actual food but i assure you it’s gonna be really really fucking good, best food you’ll ever have in your whole fucking life.” 

“I’m sure it will be.” Serinpeth straightened up in her chair. “I’m sorry, you said we were in Patter?” 

“The one and only! Best place on the whole fucking isathil. Whole fucking universe, really.” Corka took a drink from his goblet. “I mean i haven’t been to any opther fucking universes to compare. Fuck what I would do to travel to another universe.” 

“Haha yeah same” Winsler said. 

Corka leaned back in his chair. “So WIld Cliff Express students. WOw. Fucking wow.” 

“You know where we come from??” Serienpth was stunned and taken aback and honesty a bit worried. 

“Of course!! Wild Cliff Express! Fucking lvoed that place! Oh we used to have field trips of students visiting here all the time, we would have the best fucking parties, it was great” 

“Why did you stop?” Winsler asked, meekly. 

“Fuck. FUCK” Corka said. “Something about a ‘blockade.’ Ever sicne the split, things have been  _ dramatic  _ so I don’t entierly blame them, the motherfuckers.” He drank from his goblet again and then held it dramatically out. Yelm walked forward from the back of the wall, grabbed another wine bottle and filled it up. “Thank you. Also don’t be little bitches. You two can drink your wine! You should! It’s fucking good!” 

The two students looked at each other, nervously before slowly reaching for the glass and having little a sip. 

“ANyway, yeah, good question. What the fuck are two wild cliff express students doing in patter?”

“Um, well.” Serinpeth looked at Winsler. “We’re looking for a friend of ours. Two friends, really. A girl named Delnys, around our age, and her father, a man named Elrich.” 

Teb’s ears perked up. “Elrich? Did you say Elrich?” 

Seirnpeth started to respond but before she could the door opened and a bunch of servants came in with a platter of food. They placed them down in front of her, Winsler and Corka. She was served some weird meat thing, grazed in ranch dressing, while Corka had a plate of orange rocks in front of him. She thought they were over when the door swung open again and a bunch of rock men with instruments came in. 

“About fucking time you show up!” Corka yelled at them as they set up in the corner. “For fucks’ sake, I was worried my guests would get fucking bored.” 

“Sorry, sir,” the rock man wearing a bow tie said. “Shall we play your favorite?” 

“Of fucking course. Jesus.” Corka rolled her yellow eyes and turned to Seirnpeth and Winsler. “Bone apetite” 

The band in the background began playing Earth Angel. Seirpneth wasn’t paying too much attention to it, picking at the food she had with the fork she had. 

“I swear to god,” COrka said in between bites of his rocks. “IT’s so hard to be a leader. People don’t fucking listen.” 

“Yeah I know what you mean,” Seripneth took a bite of her meat. 

“You do?” Corka sat up, surprised. 

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Seripneth took a sip of her wine. “I was headmistress of a school for a while.” 

“Headmistress? At such a young age?? Motherfucker!!” Corka laughed. “That’s so fuckign impressive. You must be truly incredible” 

“T-thanks,” Serinpeth blushed a little bit. “It didn’t go as well as I wanted to, though. Things just happened and things sort of… fell apart.” 

“Ugh, fuckin TELL ME ABOUT IT, SISTER,” Corka took a sip of his wine too. “Like you do what you can to help people and be a good leader but then dumb fucks get in the way and ruin everything.” 

“RIGHT?” Serinpeth yelled. “It’s like ugh. Why do they make it so hard to just keep things running smoothly? 

“Fuckin’ A. And then they judge you for your methods and your leadership, as if they fuckin’ understand the choices you have to make.” 

Serinpeth took another bite of her food. “Yeah. They don’t understand that you’re just doing what you can to keep everyone safe, even if that means being a bit mean or cold sometimes.” 

“Yeah…” Corka pushed around his rocks. “Even if it means being a bit mean or cold sometimes…” 

There was a ruffling in Winsler’s pocket. Mr Wiggles stepped out, gave a large yawn of frustration, and put his mouth on the food, chowing it down. 

Corka jumped back. “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT??” 

“Hm?” Winsler looked confused. “Oh! That’s Mr. Wiggles! He’s my cat!” 

“That… THING is a pet of yours?” Corka pointed at it, shivvering. 

“Yes?” Winsler looked confused. 

“Fucking hell, fuck,” Corka slammed on the table. “WE. DON’T. FUCKING. KEEP. PETS. AT. THE. DINNER. TABLE” 

“Oh. Sorry…” Winsler looked down at his feet. 

Corka was about to yell again but he looked at Serinpeth and sighed. “It’s FINE. Just… Yelm, take the boy to the accoutning room. That’s where we keep the… pets.” 

Yelm took a bow and then stood over by WInsler. Winsler looked over at Seripenth, trying to communicate to her via eyes what he should do. Luckily through their years of workign together, she was good at communicating with hiim and she said: just go. It’ll be fine. 

And so Winsler stood up, grabbed Mr. Wiggles, and then left with Yelm. 

Corka sat back down. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, now that THAT’S fuckin over with… .what do you think of this song?” 

“Hm?” Seripneth listened in to the background noise, honestly having drowned it out mostly. “Oh yeah. Great song.” 

“You’ve heard it before right?” Corka asked. 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Once or twice.” 

“It’s one of my favorites. Just absoltuely one of my favorites.” Suddenly the song ended. Corka stood up. “The fuck??” 

“What track would you like us to play now, sir?” the band leader asked. 

“Are you fucking stupid?? PLay that one again!! Earth Angel!! Play Fucking Earth Angel!” 

“Right, sir,” The band leader bowed and began starting up the song again. This time, rather than sitting down, Corka kept standing, staring at the band, mouthing the words himself. 

_ Earth Angel. Earth Angel. Will you be mine?  _

Sereinpeth took another drink of her wine and another bite of her food. She looked over at Corka, still a little bit scared. 

He snapped out of his days and sat slowly back in his seat. He held out his hand and looked over at Teb, who seemed caught off guard and then realized what he should do. He searched through his coat again and pulled out the grinder and handed it to Corka, who then opened it and spread it onto the table. He took one long snort of it and then looked over to Seripneth. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. How rude of me. Embaressing myself in front of a guest like that. Fuck” 

“No, no it’s fine!” Seripneth couldn’t keep her eyes off the process, to be honest. She looked at the powder. Her nose itched. She rubbed it with her fingers. “Say, you don’t mind if… if I have a hit?” 

“Oh. Oh FUCK!” Corka held up the snorting straw to Serinpeth. “Where are my manners? Not sharing my drugs with a wild Cliff Express student. Of course you can! Of course!” 

Seripneth walked over and took the tube and put it up to her nose. She could feel the power rush through her nostrils and then it hit. And all her worries and cares were gone. Her body felt limp. It was the best feeling she’s ever have. Her brain exploded into fireworks of flowers and joy and she kept giggling. 

“Wow,” she giggled. “Fuck. JUst…. Wow.” 

“Good shit, right?” Corka laughed. “Anyway, if you wanted to go see what your friend is up to, I think I’m done with dinner.” 

“I think Winsler will be fine,” Serinpeth said. She leaned over and took one more hit of the powder. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aw I’m glad the dinner went well! Leave a review if you want to have dinner with Serinpoeth and Winsler!


	17. i didn’t account for this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad has been working from home a lot… Janet isn’t over as much these days. This quarantine sucks.

“So, uh, this is your office?” Winsler said to the tall and skinny earth elemental shivvering in the corner. 

“Get back, Elf!” the elemental said. “Please don’t suck my blood!” 

“I’m… what?” Winsler said, confused. “No. No I’m not an elf.” 

“Oh. You promise?” 

“Promise.” 

The rock creature pointed. “And that furry thing you’re holding. In your hands. Is that an elf?” 

“No. No this isn’t an elf. This is Mr. Wiggles.” 

“Oh. Oh okay. But… will he suck my blood?” 

“I mean. He bites sometimes but I don’t think he eats the blood.” 

“Oh. Oh geez,” the rock man stood up, slowly. Hesistantly. “I guess if you say so. You can put it here with the rest.” 

The rock monster pointed to the corner of the room, where there was what appeared to be a tiny dog, a frog, and a cage with a bee in it. 

“I… I think I’ll hold him for now.” Winsler gave Mr. WIggles a light pet. “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?” 

“Rock Jerry.” 

“Rock Jerry?” 

“Yes.” 

“Your parents actually named you Rock Jerry?” 

“Oh yes it’s a very traditional name.” 

“They didn’t just name you Jerry?” 

“Why would they do that? That would be weird,” Rock Jerry said. “Anyway I gotta get back to work.” 

Rock Jerry went and sat at his desk and began writing stuff down, leaving Winsler alone to just sorta stand there. 

“So, uh, you’re the official accountant here?” 

“Oh yeah!” Rock Jerry. “Head accountant. And I’m very good at it. Managing the taxes and the audits and teh budget and the bank fund.” 

“Uh-huh. I see.” Winsler looked around. “This office is, uh…. Small.” 

“It’s actually a lot bigger than my previous office, unfortunately. I lobbied for a smaller one but Corka insisted I take the biggest office they could give accountants.” 

“Why did you want a smaller one?” 

“Because the smaller they are, the less likely there is to be elves hiding. Duh.” 

“Oh right. Right. Of course.” 

“Elves are scary things. Blood sucking thing. I don’t want my blood sucked.” 

WInsler sat down next to him. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand, where did you get the idea that elves suck blood? I’m best friends with an elf and as far as I know she’s never had blood in her life.” 

“I saw it with my own eyes!” Rock Jerry said. “I was walking along and saw an elf suck blood out of someone. It was scary.” 

“Are you sure it was an elf?” 

“Uh, I’m pretty sure i know what an elf is!” rock jerry said, nervously. “Long ears. Black hair. Fangs. Red eyes. It’s when I was in Whatever.” 

Winsler narrowed his eyes. “You were in where?” 

“Whatever. It’s the space in between Pitter and Patter for people unaffiliated with either city. That’s where most of the elves live.” 

“I see….” Winsler said. “And you saw this elf in Whatever?” 

“Why must you make me repeat the scariest moment of my life??” Rock Jerry shivvered. “Yes! I saw her! The female elf with the black hair! ANd she sucked the blood out of a rabbit! I saw her myself!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh rock jerry! Leave a review if you love Rock Jerry!


	18. time for some R and Arr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so i don’t know if i should be concerned but I noticed some girl named michelle liking a lot of alyssa’s instagram posts recently

I finally made it back up to my bedroom. Ugh, all this “stuff” was super hard. I’m glad to be bakc in wild sith and all and tbh it’s nice being in school and this is what I want but wow is it stresful? 

I thought it would be different than this. I thought it would be better. I was alwaysb the coolest and most popular girl in school, even at my old school, Jedi School. Even when I transfered to Wild Cliff everyone loved me and called be cool nicknames like “radical raven” and “cool girl” and “mary sue” and idk it was just nice. Everyone here is so… mean. 

I could stomach it so I could learn how to murder well enough but i don’t know how i’d do it. 

I took off my shoes. Walking in heels boots alll day is super hot but also really fucking hurts and if my feet weren’t perfect they woiuld def get blisters on them 

I also went to wash off all of my sith makeup. Gosh, why do siths wear so much black and dark makeup?? I’m blowing half of my tuition on the stuff. It’s so not fair. 

Finally it was time to change into my pjs and hten find… something to do to relax. Probably just read fanfic on AO3 on my iphone 11. Though idk what I’d read. I already got caught up on Athene Willow and the Kingsworthy Ring. I could reread it. Maybe see if i can find some slash fic or some x reader fic. Sometimes I like to read those and just pretend that i’m not alone these days. 

Not like I need a girlfriend!! I’m a smart, independent woman named Raven and right hnow all i need to do is save the world! 

I took off my hook and then took off my belt and threw it on my desk chair. I looked at the lightsaber hilt that was strapped onto it and a thought went into my mind. Could i….? 

No. No. She put that idea into your head, Raven. No. 

It was then I noticed it. A rumbling sound. Soemthing like a vibration. And it was coming from my dresser. 

What the heck... ? 

I approached it slowly, cautiously, lightsaber in hand and lightly opened the door. As I did, a figure popped off and tackled me to the ground and held a hook up to my neck. 

“YAR! Raven Willow Blood Charm!!” she yelled. 

“Pirate Fidan!” i rolle d my eyes. “The fuck are you doing in my dresser??” 

“Yar, I be needing to make an entrance to scare ya. And startle ya. And send a message.” 

“Well I’m sending you a message: please get off of me.” 

“Aye then,” Pirate Fidan got off of me. I could see her dark black hair glow in the darkness of the room, her red eye glowing bright red, like mine. Same with her sharp teeth, which were also like me. She also was missing a hand, like me, and had a hook, like me. Her and I really had a lot in common, now that I think about it. 

“So wanna tell me what the fuck is that all about?” I asked her. 

“Yar, i be mad at ye, Raven,” Fidan said, getting to her feet. “Ye told me you would be here trainin’ to kill ye clone. And it’s been weeks now and ye still ain’t done! And I’m istting here waiting for ye, doin’ fuck all, while ye go to class.” 

I sighed and sat on the bed. “Look i know it’s frustrating and not optimal. But if we want to defeat them, what we really need right now is to be on our A-Game. And Clone Raven, she’s…. Basically a god. I don’t want to fight her unless I’m the most talented Sith Lord in existance.” 

“Aye, I get that. BUT that ain’t be concernin’ to me. I can do this without ya, ya know?” 

“Then why don’t you, hm?” I stood up and looked her in her eye. “Maybe it’s because you realize that you ALSO failed to stop my SWIM team last time and, for whatever reason, you’re just continously unable to kill them. Hm? Master assassin and can’t even kill four teenagers?” 

Pirate Fidan punched a hole in the wall. “HARK. YE BE SAYING THIS TO ME FACE?” 

“Yes.” I looked her square in the eye, hands on my lightsaber. “Yes I am.” 

Pirate Fidan glared at me, her glare of hatred and then one of anger and then finaly submit. “Fine. I’ll wait for ye longer. But not much longer.” 

“Good.” 

“In the meanwhile, I’ll be huntin down this SWIM team” 

“No.” 

“What ye mean no?” she looked angry again. 

“I need them. They’re my group now. If I want to succeed here, then I’m going to need to have them alive. At least for a bit longer.” 

Pirate Fidan huffed. “Ye ain’t lettin me have any fun!” 

“Look, you have universe hopping powers, don’t you?? Just… go to another universe and kill another SWIM or whatever!! Okay??” 

Pirate Fidan thought it over. “Hmm. Fine. I be doing that. But I’ll be back soon, Raven. And ye better be ready when I do.” 

And with that, Pirate Fidan vanished inot a bit of smoke, leaving me alone in my room. Ugh. Finally. I went to my wardrobe (the door was still open) and opened the door and whooshed and changed into my PJs and then laid in bed, ready to sleep and train to be the best fucking dark lord of the sith that I could be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: awww glad she’s relaxing! Leave a review if you like Team R&Arr!


	19. rise again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Happy easter to all of my furry and egg friends!

I woke up in some cot in some hut. My head hurt. My body hurt. My everything hurt. What the everlasting fuck, Veronica? 

What the fuck happened? Oh fuck, that’s right. The little squirt Ax was piloting the plane and then the plane broke and then i crash landed and then I woke up in a hut and then it was right now. 

“Oh praise the Lord, Jesus! You’re awake!” 

That voice. I wasn’t familiar with that voice. It was a girls’s voice. I sat up and looked over at the girl. She was a rock girl, small and dark brown, though with bits of gold lightly chipped off from around her. She looked at me and her blue eyes lightened. 

I rubbed my eyes, trying to get them used to seeing things again. “Yeah. I’m awake. Fucking hell. How long was I out for?” 

“Three days. But finally you’ve risen!” 

“Wow. Cool. Great. Thanks. How injured was I?” 

“Really really bad,” the girl said. “You were a complete and bloody mess. Mom almost left you for dead but then I checked your breathing and you were alive. We brought you back here and gave you some ibuprofen to see if that would help and wow it sure did. YOu’ve mad e a miraculous recovery in no time, especially for a human such as yourself.” 

“Yeah right a human. How do I look? Do I stll look hot?” 

“Uh, yes?” 

“Hell yeah.” I smiled and looked at her. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t get your name. What is it?” 

“My name? Oh, sorry! I must have forgot! My name is Kat. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” she gave an awkward light bow and I gave her a light wave in acknowledgement. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Kat. My name is Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. I still have some question, if you don’t mind” 

“Of course! I’ve never treated a patient before but I imagine patients have a lot of questions!” 

“Right. When I crash landed, there were five other people with me. Do you know where they are now?” 

A wave of terror flashed over her face. “F-five? Oh no oh geez. We only found one.” 

“One? Which one?” 

“I, uh, don’t know her name. But she’s a dark skinned girl, elf, a-”

“Mira” I stood up, despite how much it hurt. “Where is she? IS she okay?” 

“Ah!” Kat jumped, caught off guard by this. “She’s okay! Just on the bed outside! She hasn’t woken up yet!” 

I opened the door of the room and into another room. There was Mira, on a caught, wrapped up in bandages. Her face was still badly bruised. 

I rushed up to her. “Mira?? Are you okay?” 

Kat followed in behind me but stood by the doorway, as if afraid to get closer. “I’ve tried that. She hasn’t woken up yet.” 

I looked at the body of my friend. That had to be some way to knock her out of her coma. Think, Veronica. Think. 

I put on my best posh Europeon accent. “Oh, mira, darling. You best wake up.” 

Suddenly she jolted uprigth. “Delnys??” 

“Nah, Just me. Good morning sleepy head.” I smiled at her. 

She blinked a bit. “Veronica? What happened? WHere are we?” 

“What happened? We crashed landed. Where? Uhhh…” I looked back at Kat. “Actually, good question. Where are we?” 

But before Kat could answer, there was a knock at the door. 

Kat smiled and lit up. “ Well of all things can it be really? No. Yes. Ho. Hi. Oh my eye!” 

“What??” i said, irritated. And then the door opened. 

A shorter orange elemental woman with yellow eyes entered the room. “Ah good. You’re finally awake.” 

“Ahem.” Kat got in front of us. “Ladies, I’d like to introduce you to my mother, Yona, the leader of Pitter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: glad to see Veronica and Mira aren’t dead after all! Leave a review if you thought they were dead


	20. pitters patter but they don’t fall down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i am so. Goddamn. Bored. Of being stuck. In this house.

“Pitter? We’re in Pitter?” Mira rubbbed her eyes and her ears, making sure she was observing things directly. 

“Oh dears, of course,” the woman, who I guess was named Yona, said. “I know things must have been scary out there but you’re here in Pitter now, the safest place in Isathill.” 

I huffed. “Well I guess it’s technically where we needed to go.” 

“Oh?” Yona asked. Her voice was old and croaky, filled with gentleness but also weariness. As if she was really tired. It was… grandmotherly. “Where is it that you needed to go?” 

“Just Pitter or Patter or Whatever so I guess fate decided where we needed to be.” I looked her up and down. “So, I think now we’ll be taking our leave.” 

“Now now hold on!” Yona said, placing her hand on my shoulder. I had to keep myself from instinctively bititng it off. “You girls just woke up. Things are scary. You both are injured. It’s probably for the best you stay here in our custody.” 

I rolled my eyes at her. But I mean, she was right. We did fall out of a plane. On the other hand, I have a bunch of other friends I need to find and a zombie music teacher to stop. I can’t afford to waste time jerking off in some hut. 

“Do you mind if I step outside for a smoke break?” I asked Yona. 

“Of course not, deary!” Yona smiled and opened the door for me. I stepped outside, dug out the old pack of cigarettes from my pocket. I beat the bottom of the pack, pulled out a stick, stuck the filtered end in my mouth and then lit the other end with my fire magic and took a deep inhale. Oh fuck that felt good. 

I looked around everywhere. THere wasn’t much to look at, a bunch of various huts made of wood or other materials. Fields of crops. A well and a fountain. ANd also a giant gray wall, covering the horizon, penetrating the skyline. 

The fuck? 

I was going to question it, but before I could, a huge gust of wind came right past me. The fuck?? It put out my cigarette!! It was too fast to be normal wind, plus it looked kinda… purple? 

That was weird. 

I considered this a defeat and walked by inside. 

“Hey Yona,” I said, closing the door behind me. “What’s the deal with the wall?” 

“The wall? The wall keeps us safe, dearie,” Yona said with a chipper smile. 

I couldn’t think of what to say so I just nodded. “Uh-huh.” 

Kat walked over to Mira, slowly, carrying something in her hands behind her back. “Uhh, we found this by the crash site. Is it yours?” 

She held up Mira’s Wild Cliff Express backpack which had the school crest on it. “OMG Thank you!” Mira said as she took it and looked through it, making sure nothing was lost.” 

“No problem!” Kat grinned. “You know, I haven’t seen any merch like that at the gift shop. Is that new or was that from when it was in previews?” 

“What?” Mira looked confused. 

“Oh right!” Yona perked up. “Girls, as a special treat, since it’s your first nights in patter and it’s the special night of the evening, I am taking you to a show.” 

“A show?” I cocked a brow. 

“Yes! Provided you can walk and are in good enough health, mind you!” Yona smiled. “Kat is so excited. She’s already seen it twice and she’s been humming the songs all month” 

Kat turned red. “Moooom! Stop! You’re embaressing me!” 

I looked over at Mira. It sounded like this was some sort of… musical? I hate musicals. But it seemed like our options were to either go, or stay in the hut. And this place kind of stinks.” 

“Fine, I’ll go,” I said as I reache d into Mira’s back and pulled out a brush. “Just give me time to be presentable.” 

“Oh right, I forgot! You humans have hair to fix! Alright, I’ll be back later to pick you up! I have some Mayoral duties to take care of anyway. Kat, darling, please come along” 

And with that, Kat and Yona left, leaving us alone in the cabin. 

Mira broke the silence first. “This is weird, right?” 

“Very. But fuck all we can do about it right now.” I walked up to her and held her hand. It was cold. “Here, try to stand up. I’m going to help you.” 

“Oh. Thanks.” She took my hand and slowly moved one of her legs off of the be dand touche d her foot onto the floor. She winced but nevertheless did the same with her other foot and winced again. I held onto her hand and put my hand around her waist and guided her as she walked across the room. 

“Okay, so,” I said as I helped her back onto the bed. “You can wakl, which is good. But not particularly well, which is bad. Meaning we better not cause any trouble while we’re here.” 

“So what do we do?” 

“Get ready for the show, I guess,” I began brushing my hair and then began brushing Mira’s hair. 

A few hours later, we were ready. We didn’t have much in the way of clothes to change into and I couldn’t find a vanity anywhere in this hut (which was gross. What kind of place doesn’t have a vanity? Even when I was living in Wild Cliff’s sewers, I was able to find a vanity) so I didn’t look nearly as hot as I would prefferred but… whatever. 

There was a knocking on the door. Yona gentally opened it, a red bow tie around her neck. 

“Well don’t you girls look delightful!” she grinned and pinched my cheek. “Just the ball of the bells” 

“Thank you?” I said, trying not to bite her fingers instinctively. 

“Of course! You ladies ready?” 

I helped Mira off the be dand she kept her arm around mine, leaning onto me for balance as we followe d Yona and Kat. We wlaked away from teh area of huts to what looked like a big ampitheater. It was made of stone. It looked old, as if it had been here for a while. 

“I already paid tickets, so we can go ahead and just take our seats,” Yona smiled and winked. “Besides, they know who I am.” 

We sat down in a private chair area in the balcony and could get a good look at the stage. And the crowd. It was a full house. There wasn’t a single empty seat in the general admissions seating and the show hadn’t started yet. Hell, some were even standing in teh back of the room. A giant rock man in a bow tie came over and said. “Can I get you anything? Water? Playbills?” 

Yona perked. “Oh, girls! Since this is your first Pitter show, you should get a playbill, to remember this by!” 

She grabbed three from teh man and passed it down to Kat who passed it down to me who passed it on to Mira. I was trying to look at the waitor’s ass as he walked away because tbh I’ve never seen a rock man before but then I heard Mira gasp. 

“Uhhh Veronica,” Mira said in a hushed but panicked voice. “You’re gonna wanna look at this.” 

“What?” I said. It was then I looked down at the playbill. There was a blue sky with the streak of a train piercing through it. On it were the words: 

WILD CLIFF EXPRESS - A MUSICAL    
  
BOOK AND LYRICS BY PHILLIP MAISEL 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ohhh shit what does this mean??


	21. Wild Cliff Express

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: doing school work online blowssss. I don’t want to write papers when I’m home, I wanna write fanfic

The lights went down and blackness filled the room as everyone hushed. I turned to Mira. I could tell she was also confused and concerned and yet we both sat in our seats still, probably just curious as to what the fuck was about to happen. 

Suddenly a man and a trombone player walked on stage as the stage lights began to turn on. 

The trombone player began doing what sounded like a smooth jazz solo while the man on stage began humming. 

“HMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” the man said and a chorus that must’ve been behind the curtain repeated. 

This happened for a bit more before finally the man began singing. 

_On the road to Hell, there’s a railway train_

_Full of pleasure and full of pain_

_It was a grand time, on a grand line_

_It was a world of drugs and cash_

The man began clapping and kept singing. 

_It’s a sad time_

_A terrible no good super sad time_

_It’s a sad time_

_It’s gotta happen anyway_

A small elemental walked on stage and the man continued his song. 

_On the road to Hell, there’s a railway train_

_There was a man who never stood up tall_

_He worked the stage and he lead it all_

_Give it up for Underbough!_

The audience all responded while the short elemental playing Underbough gave a light bow. I rolled my eyes in disgust. God, I know it’s just an actor but just being reminded of Underbough made me wanna kick him in the stomach again. 

The man started singing again. 

_Any other faculty? Oh yeah, almost forgot_

_On the road to Hell, there was a magic school_

_And teachers needed to fill that place_

_And a psychic man who taught the tunes_

_Professor Elrich! That’s me!_

The audience cheered as ‘Professor Elrich’ took a bow. I could hear Mira whisper “oh my fucking god” next to me and rub her temples in frustration. 

‘Elrich’ gave a light smile and tipped his hat and put it back on. He stepped back up to his microphone and kept on keeping on. 

_And let’s not forget_

_What good is a school without its students?_

_There were a lot of kids that came and went_

_But let me introduce you to two of them_

_See, on the road to Hell, there was a darling girl_

_Training in the art of the dead_

_My daughter and my whole wild world_

_The immaculate Delnys Raethran_

A young tiefling woman with a shitty blonde wig walked onto the stage and gave ‘Elrich’ a hug and then took a seat. He smiled at her and then went on. A pale white woman with dark blue hair and eyes so red you could see them from here walked onto stage with a lyre in hand. The music got slower. Gentler. Sadder.

_And there’s one last soul I need to say_

_And then we can be on our way_

_On the road to Hell, there was one poor girl_

_Constantly looking to pick the scraps_

_About to ride for the very time_

_Welcome aboard, Mira Marchund_

  
  


The audience applauded but I couldn’t notice it over Mira’s poor attempts to reserve her fury. 

“I’m played by a white woman??” I could hear Mira say. “What the fuck??” 

_It’s important that you know it all_

_The song of Wild Cliff’s rise and fall_

_And all the sadness and all the pain_

_On the road to Hell, on the rail way train_

_It’s a sad tale_

_A really fucking sad tale_

_It’s a sad tale_

_But you can’t look away_

With that, the song was over and everyone stood and clapped. Except for Mira and I, just… too fucking stunned tbh. 

Nevertheless, the play kept going. The stage cleared except for ‘Elrich’, ‘Mira’ and ‘Delnys.’ ‘Delnys’ was sitting at a table, flipping through some sorta book while ‘Mira’ stared on, looking thristy af. She approached the other girl nervously, trying to work up the nerve. The music began a slow, guitar focused tune. 

MIRA

_I wanna ride with you_

DELNYS

_What the fuck?_

MIRA 

_On the train. I wanna go there too._

DELNYS

_Oh. I’m sorry, have we met?_

MIRA

_No... Well, at least not yet._

_.. My name’s Mira._

_I’m a bard._

DELNYS

_A bard?._

_Huh. My dad’s a bard._

_I don’t know much, but_

_It seems pretty hard._

MIRA

_Oh it’s not so bad._

_So… Elrich’s your dad?_

DELNYS

_Hm? Oh, yeah_

_I guess he is_

_I guess now I should say_

_Nice to meet you, and tell you my name._

MIRA

_Delnys._

_I already know._

_I saw you at your dad’s last show._

I looked over to Mira, who was looking sad and shrinking into her seat. 

“Is… is that how it happened?” she said to herself, quietly. 

“It can’t be,” I wshipered to her. “How would Phillip know all that stuff? He’s probably just pulling this out of his ass” 

Except the rest of it was… fairly accurate. Like, weirdly accurate. 

The play continued with ‘Mira’ and ‘Delnys’ bonding and eventually forming a relationship in a weirdly close amount of time and then ‘Mira’ doing what she could to make her way onto the train. Eventually she got on there and things were going fine until she started hearing the voice which caused her to start drinking. And then she got approached by a large man in elaborate cat makeup. 

MACAVITY

_Hey, little Marchund_

_Give me a song_

_I’m a busy cat_

_And I can’t stay long_

_I’ve got money to give_

_You have info to tell_

_We work together_

_Everything will go swell_

Ugh, seeing Macavity on the stage felt weird. Why the fuck would anyone put Macavity in a musical? And furthermore, who the fuck told Phillip about Macavity?? 

Act 1 ended with a giant elaborate musical number with a very drunk ‘Mira’ showing up on stage and singing a song, with a mildly annoyed ‘Delnys.’ All of this was interrupted by the arrival of an elemental woman wearing a brown wig.

_Hello. My name is Veronica Sonya Elm Rune…_

Oh fuck off Phillip, you fucking twink. 

The audience lights came up and Yona and Kat looked over to us. 

“Sooooooo” Kat said excitedly. “What do you think so far??” 

Mira just looked…. Sad. She didn’t say anything. Time to speak in her place. 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh y’know idk. We’ll see where it goes from here.’

Kat just giggled. “Oh Act 2 get WILD. So many twists. But I don’t wanna spoil anything for you! It would suck if y’all knew what was gonna happen.” 

Act 2 was about what I expected. It opened with a song lead by ‘Lady Integrity’ called “Lady of Beyond Zed.” After that, it was A weird, abridged retelling of all the bullshit we went through. Elrich’s death, Mira selling her soul, the new SWIM taking everyone’s bodies. It was honestly so amazing how Phillip was able to compress so much into one hour long act of a musical but I guesss that’s the beauty of music as a medium. 

We had reached the end of the play, after Delnys had blown up the Wild Cliff Express and she went back to her zombie father, who told her that everyone was gone and that Mira’s soul was taken but they could still save her. A tearful ‘Delnys’ went downstage and held out ‘Mira’s’ lyre. 

DELNYS

_Hold on for me_

_I’m coming_

_Hold on_

_I’m gonna save you_

_Hold on for me_

_I’m coming too_

_I’m coming goo_

The play ended with ‘Delnys’ and ‘Elrich’ leaving to go save Mira. As soon as it ended and the cast came out on stage for their curtain call, the entire audience of tearful elementals and other people stood up and cried and applauded. The cast took their bow and then ‘Elrich’ stepped up to the mic. 

“Now, if you want to stick around, it’s time for our regularly scheduled post show Q and A with the man himself: Phillip Maisel!” ‘Elrich’ smiled and stepped aside as everyone applauded and a familiar figure walked onto the stage. 

He looked about the same. But different. Granted it was far away, but i could still see pretty well. His hair was shaggier, and he had grown a goatee. And he looked… older? But under that, it was still the same twink as always. 

The cast dispersed while Phillip sat down on the edge of the stage, microphone in hand. “Thank you, thank you. And thank you all for coming out to the show. It really means so much to see how many people care about our little rinky dink production. Now, without further ado, any questions?” 

A woman stood up and raised her hand. The actor playing Elrich walked over and put a microphone in front of her face. 

“Yes, um, i have a question about the themes of class warefare and economic struggle. How much of that was inspired by current events here in Pitter? Or what was your inspiration to put that in the play?” 

Phillip breathed in for a bit, as if in deep thought. Ugh. I hated him. “Well, i’ve always been one to stand for the little guy, you know? ANd I always thoguht it was unfair how people with low income have terrible opportunites compared to those with wealth. So I guess I was inspired by real world events, yes, but a lot of it just came from my heart and what I believe makes for an ethical society.” 

Everyone in the audience cheered. ‘Elrich’ moved around the crowd until finally he put the mic infront of a litlte girl. 

“Ummm” the girl said with a lisp. “Do you think delnys and mira will ever end up together?” 

Phillip just gave a laugh and everyone laughed along. “Well, who knows? I’d like to think that delnys saves her and they get together, but I can’t certainly control that. Any other questions?” 

I couldn’t take it anymore. I stood up and yelled. “YEAH I GOT ONE. WHY ARE YOU SUCH A PRICK?” 

Everyone gasped and turned towards me. Even from this far away, I could see Phillip’s face go pale white. 

“Oh, Veronica. It’s you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: wow this chapter was super hard to write. Leave a review if you would go see Phillip’s play!


	22. a touching reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay so now I’ve noticed Alyssa liking all of Michelle’s photos too and they’re commenting together a lot??

Mira and I were standing backstage, waiting. She was still looking down on the floor, arms folded into herself. I poked her in the shoulder. 

“Hey. You doing okay?” 

“No.” 

“Yeah, understandable,” I said, giving her a hug. “It’s okay. Phillip’s just an asshole.” 

“Who’s an asshole?” i heard a voice say and I turned. There he was, the twink himself. 

“You have some nerve, Maisel. Making a play like that,” I said, poking him on the chest. 

“What’s wrong with what I did? Works of art are good for reflecting elements of life and helping people get through them. Mira of all people should know that.” 

Mira just shivvered. Phillip continued. 

“Anyway, I’m just glad you’re safe. I haven’t heard a word about you two since everything went down.” 

“As if you care about us,” I scoffed. 

“I… I do?” Phillip looked confused. “I know we left things off on a rather bad note last time, but i’ve had a lot of time since then to really work things through and i’m starting to think i might have been a prick.” 

“Might have?” I shook my head. “Look, I have some questions. How did you survive the train crash? How did you even get here? We had to take a plane. A plane that broke. So how the fuck did your ass get here?” 

Phillip looked nervous. “You’re right… I was in a bad place after it. I didn’t think I was going to survive… Thankfully, someone came and helped and I was able to make it through and was brought here where it was safe for me.” I could see him nervously rub his wrist, where there was a small S branded on it. 

I rolled my eyes. “Uh-huh. And how did you know all that stuff? For the musical? Were you spying on us?” 

“Spying on you? Why would i…? No, Delnys told me. Her and I got lunch a few times.”

This got Mira’s attention. “Delnys was here??” 

“Uh, yeah?” Phillip seemed weirded out by her excitement. “Nice girl . We were never the best of friends before but I was just glad to see someone i recognized. She Had a lot of stuff to talk about. Seemed pretty sad. Though I don’t blame her. That was a shit move, Other Mira, taking Mira’s body like that.” 

Mira rubbed her eyes. “I… didn’t choose to take her body…” 

I was pissed off at this dude. How dare he make my best friend Mira sad. “Look, I don’t buy this. This is all bullshit. How did you have lunch several times? How did you have time to write a full play and musical and put it on? It’s only been a day since we last saw you.” 

Phillip looked at me like I was insane. “Uh, Veronica. What are you talking about? It’s been two years since the train crash.” 

“WHAT?” I was going to ask more questions but before I could, the pale blue ahired woman walked by and poked Phillip on the shoulder. 

“Hey, boss. Any notes for tonight’s performance?” she asked. 

“Huh? Oh, no. But hey, this is exciting. I’m glad you’re here. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Phillip waved a hand and pointed to Mira. “I’d like you to meet the real Mira Machund.” 

The woman gasped and her red eyes lit up. “THE Mira Machund? Oh my god, it’s such an honor.” She held out her hand and shook the very confused and startled Mira. 

“Uh, hey,” Mira said, so weirded the fuck out that she didn’t look sad anymore. “Pleasure to meet you.” 

“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine. Sorry, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Luna God Spell.” 

Phillip twinkily looked down at his watch. “Oh, fuck. It was lovely to catch up with you ladies, but I’m afraid I have to go now. I have to make sure I give some notes to the lighting department before they leave for the night. Luna, did you grab the bottle of blood I gave you?” 

“I did. Yes. Thank you,” Luna said. “I’ll see you later!” 

“Bye,” Phillip said as he walked through the black curtains and away from our sights. Luna turned to us and smiled. 

“Hey, do you two have anywhere to be tonight?” 

“Uhhh” Mira and I looked at each other. We were weirded the fuck out. “No?” 

“Oh, good! Then I would be honored if you came over. I could make you some tea or some blood or some milk or anything. I have a lot of questions to ask, especially you Mira.” 

Mira just looked concerned but she nodded anyway. “O-okay. Sounds good.” 

We followed Luna around back stage. She held open the door for us and we walked out into the streets of pitter again. I could still see the wall around us. 

“Damn shame, isn’t it?” Luna said. “This place used to be so good before Yona got here.” 

“Yona? What did she do?” I asked. 

“She built the walls. She cut us off from Patter. We’re stuck here without much resources beyond what we can manage to grow ourselves. It’s a hard life, but… not much we can do about it.” 

“Why not just beat the shit out of Yona?” I asked. 

“Hah. As if we haven’t tried. Anyway, we’re here.” 

She stopped us in front of a pathetic looking wooden hut. There was also a field of grass and corn and corn and stuff. It was really fucking sad looking. She opened the door. 

It was a pathetic little place. Even the table next to the door was broken. There was just a table. Though sitting at that table was… a girl. A teenage girl with… how can I tactfully describe this… a very very fucked up face. Like just stitches all over. It looked…. Really really sad. 

“mom! “ The girl yelled, her voice… not quite right. 

“Oh right, I forgot to tell you,” Luna said. “This is my daughter, Sapphire Moonlight Good Spell.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Aw glad to see her back! Un-RIP Sapphire!


	23. how are you here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dad sat down and told me… apparently… mom has it…

Luna guided us down at the table. “Sit, sit, girls. Don’t be nervous. I can prep drinks for you. DO you two drink blood?” 

“Uhh… no. I’ll just take tea” Mira said. 

“Uhhh i’m… I’m not sure, “I said. I knew I used to be a vampire, but even since turning into Veronica, things have been a clusterfuck. I felt my teeth. DId I even have fangs anymore? 

“Then I can just get you both milk and tea then and prep Sapphire and I some blood.” Luna smiled and went into the kitchen. 

Mira and I looked at each other and then looked at Sapphire, who seemed to be… staring at the wall. Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t normal here. And I wasn’t sure what it was. But I was too afraid to say anything. 

“So Sapphire,” Mira finally broke the silence. “Do you… have any hobbies?” 

“No,” Sapphire groaned. Every time she spoke, it sounded… painful. I could see her eyes tear up just trying to form the words. 

Luna returned and placed glasses in front of us and then sat down. “So, Mira and Veronica. Wow. I can’t believe I’m meeting the people themselves. Are you real Mira or Not Train Mira?” 

Mira huffed. “The real not Train Mira.” 

“Amazing, see, because that’s what I’m struggling with,” Luna said. “Like I have real Mira down, but the motivation later on… it’s so easy to play you as an antagonist, y’know? And I don’t feel like that’s fair to you?” 

“Haha you know, no it’s not,” MIra said, chugging her glass of tea in one big gulp. 

“Right, so when you were manipulating Delnys into being in love with you, how did you justify it to yourself?” 

“I… when you love someone, you’re willing to do anything to keep them around.” 

“Oh… I definitely get that.” 

I looked over to Sapphire as she said that. Then I looked over to Luna. I glanced down, where I could see a small S branded on her wrist. She saw me looking and then quickly covered it under her sleeve. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Luna jumped. 

“Sapphire, darling, get upstairs. Now.” 

“Moooom” sapphire groaned. 

“Now! Don’t ask questions! And don’t make a sound!” Luna yelled. The girl slowly got up and made her way up the stairs, awkwardly, as if she was about to fall over. 

Luna walked into the kitchen and came back out with a steak knife. She held it behind her back and approached the door cautiously. Reluctantly, she opened it. 

“Oh sis. Thank God it’s you.” 

Standing there in the doorway was a familiar face. Well, mostly familiar. She had both eyes. But otherwise, it was strinkingly similar. Long black hair. Pale white skin. Pointy ears and sharp teeth with blood red eyes. It was the face of the woman who had tried to kill us. 

It was the face of Fidan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m too sad to think of an author’s note. sorry


	24. the dark haired vampire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I’m so fucking scared. How the fuck did this happen? How?

“AHH” Mira screamed instinctly and fell out of her chair

“Huh?” Fidan looked at us, a look of confusion on her face. “What’s her problem?” 

“Mira, get up,” I said, extending my hand and helping her up. “I don’t think that’s our Fidan.” 

“You two know me?” Fidan’s eyes narrowed and I could see her reaching for a blade in her satchell. But then Luna stepped in front of her. 

“Dont worry, sis! They’re safe! They’re good people.” 

Fidan kept looking at us, her blood red eyes looking into my soul, or lack of one. “If you say so.” ANd then she laughed. “Oh, sis. It’s so good to see you again.” 

“Same! Here, come on in, take a seat, get comfortable!” Luna closed the door behind her and guided Fidan towards the table and sat across from us. Mira just looked at her with wide eyes, in silent fear. Fidan just sorta pretended to not notice. 

Luna poured out another glass of blood and handed it to Fidan. “So what brings you here?” 

“I… I knew I had to come as soon as I heard. I’m sorry about Sapphire.” 

“Thank you…” Luna said, trailing off. And she gave us a side eye, and I didn’t have to be a psychic to know what she was telling us was ‘don’t say a fucking word’

“Do you know who did it yet?” Fidan asked. “Is there anyone I need to take care of?” 

“Just… just inquisitors. Or maybe thieves. I don’t know. I don’t know specifics.” Luna awkwardly drank a glass of blood. “How did you even get here? Did you dig another hole under the wall?” 

Fidan just smiled. “They don’t call me Digger for nothing.” 

Luna huffed. “If you keep doing that, you’re going to get caught, you know.” 

“I’ve never gotten in trouble before.” Fidan casually took a sip of her drink. “I don’t plan on getting caught now.” 

Finally Mira could hold it in no longer. SHe finally burst out. “YOU FUCKED ELRICH.’ 

There was a quietness throughout the room. Fidan narrowed her eyes again. “Wanna say that again?” 

I sighed. “Look, Fidan. We know who you are. We’ve been needing to find you. We need your help. You’re familiar with Elrich Raethran correct.” 

“Oh yes, I am!” Luna said happily. “He’s in the play I’m in!” 

Fidan just looked at Luna. “.. he is?” 

“YEs!” Luna smiled, obliviously. “He has this amazing arc. He gets turned to a zombie at the end.” 

“Ohhhh. He does?” she looked over at us. 

“He does.” I said. 

Fidan took another sip of her drink. “So he does.” 

“It’s why we need your help,” I said. 

Mira spoke up. “We think Elrich and his daughter are going to do something bad. SOmething very dangerous.” 

I nodded. “And we think you can help us figure out exactly what they’re trying to do.” 

Fidan huffed. “Elrich… you fucking asshole. Though I don’t know what you’re talking about with his daughter. She’s fine.” 

That caught my attention. “She’s fine? What do you mean?” 

“His daughter? The one I had with him. She’s safe, as far as I know. She’s in Whatever with my husband, Artis.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave reviews


	25. the start of fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i just wish i knew how she was doing

He walked awkwardly down the hall of the cart. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. I mean, sure, he was meating the people he’d be spending the rest of his education experience with , but like… he was sure they’d be cool people, right? 

He looked at the window on the side of the train cart and tried the best to see his reflection. He ran his hands delicaly through his blonde hair, trying to organize it but, y’know, not TOO organize. God he was nervous. God god god god. 

He tightened the grip on his music case and walked down. He was about to be at the train cart. Deep breath. You got this. No big deal. 

He opened the cart door and looked around. It was the dining cart. He could tell by the fact that people were eating. He looked around. There were letters on everyone’s table, making it easy to tell where each group was supposed to be. But he didn’t need to know. Because he could tell who they were right away. He could hear their names 

There were three of them at the table. One tiny ginger haired kid, scrawny, kinda hiding into himself. Sitting across to him were two people, one boy and one girl, who looked very idenitical. Long ears, shiny black hair, tan skin. God, they looked so cool. 

He gulped and awkwardly shuffled over to them and stood over the table. They were in teh middle of some conversation but they stopped and looked at him. 

“Can I help you?” the black haired boy said. 

He stammered, trying to think of what to say. “Oh, uhhh…. I mean…” 

“Waaait…” the girl said, starting to laugh. “I know you. You must be the new kid, right? The new fourth member of our group?” 

“Oh, uh, yeah…” he said. God, he was embaressing himself in front of her. She probably thought he was a super dork. 

“Well what are you waitig for?” she laughed once more. “Take a seat, dude.” 

Nervously, slowly, he sat down next to the orange haired kid who gave him a super weird look with his eyes. 

The girl held out her hand and began to shake it. “Allow us to introduce ourselves. My name’s Fidan.” 

“Artis,” the black haired boy said. 

“Teb,” the small ginger kid croaked. “Or Tebethy for long.” 

“N-nice to meet you all.” He shook Fidan’s hand. “My name is Elrich. Elrich Raethran.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, Elrich!” Fidan smiled, retracting her hand. “So you just started at Wild Cliff, huh?” 

“Yeah!’ Elrich said. “I, uh, thanks for letting me into your group. I know there was a vacancy.” 

“To be fair,” Artis spoke up. “We didn’t necessarily want a vacancy.” 

Teb spoke up in a quiet voice. “I miss Dain…” 

“Well, whatever.” Fidan rolled her eyes. “We’re gonna be here for a long while so might as well make the most of it. What’cha got in the case?” 

“This?” Elrich looked down at the case on his lap. “Oh, uh, it’s just my horn.” 

“Horn? You a bard?” Artis asked, his eyebrow peaked. 

Elrich felt intimidated For some reason. “Oh. I’m, uh, double majoring in both bard and psychics.”

“Don’t count on that department lasting for much longer...” Teb said softly.

Fidan laughed. “Artis here is a bard too. Been playing for as long as I know him.” 

Elrich was lost, barely noticing that line. He was too distracted by how… pretty Fidan was when she laughed. He shook his head and snapped out of it. “So, uh, are you two siblings, or…?” 

“Oh god…” Artis rubbed his temples. 

FIdan just laughed. “Nah, but next door neighbors. He’s been one of my best friends for…. God, I don’t know how long.” 

“Oh.” Elrich wasn’t sure how to feel about this info. He felt…. Weird? Why would he feel weird? 

Teb gave a light cough and spoke up. “We should tell him…” 

“Hm?” Elrich asked. 

“Oh, uh, right….” Fidan said. “So… you don’t mind staying here… in the dining cart… after everyone leaves?” 

Elrich grew a bit worried. “... Why would we do that?” 

Fidan turned to Artis, who just smiled. “We’re going to wait until everyone is gone and then go down the secret stair case here in the dining hall.” 

Elrich almost jumped out of his seat. “WHAT? Why would we do that??” 

“Because word on the tracks is that there’s a woods witch who might live down there,” Artis said. 

“Or The Heart of the Wild Cliff Express…” Teb said quietly. 

“Oh don’t be silly, Teb,” Fidan laughed. “You know that’s not real.” 

“But but,” Elrich tried to find the words, too nervous and finding this all too incredulous. “That’ll be after hours! Plus isn’t that area off limits? We’ll be breaking the rules!” 

Artis rolled his eyes. “It’s just a few rules. Who cares if we break them? It doesn’t really matter.” 

Elrich huffed, still unsure. It was his first day here and his group was already going to get him into trouble. He had a stomach ache. He had just gotten to dream school and he had a stomach ache. Luckily Fidan touched his hand from across the table. 

“Hey,” she said in a super comforting voice. “It’ll be fine. Look, we’re a group now, right? And we’re not going to put you in any danger that’s going to get you hurt. So I can assure you, so long as we stick together, nothing will happen to any of us.” 

I looked over at Teb and Artis and and Fidan, who all looked at me with smiles. And in a moment… I felt calm. ANd I nodded. 

“Okay then,” I said, looking at the rest of my team. “Let’s do it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: awww leave a review if you love seeing baby FATE!


	26. a new raven in flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I was going to text Alyssa about the mom stuff… ended up texting Dylan instead

I woke up to the darkness of night again, just like every night. I lazily got up from the old mattress mom and dad place d on the floor for me. It wasn’t the nicest thing in the world, but it was better than when I had a sleeping bag. Still, it would be nice if one day my parents would get me a friggin’ box spring. 

I was thirsty. I hope dad’s awake long enough for me to get breakfsat. I went over to the mirror we hung up on the cave wall and inspected my face and began brushing my teeth, taking extra care around my sharp front teeth. 

My name is Mara Artisan and I’m 14 years old. I have short, moppy red hair that sometimes gets in my eyes just because we can’t afford a darn barber and I don’t trust dad to cut my hair agian. I’m a vampire, in case you can’t tell by the everything about me, and also an elf (though for some reason my ears aren’t as long as my mom or dad’s). For as long as I’ve lived, I’ve lived in Whatever, in this cave where we can hide from the sunlight. It’s a kinda crappy place, but, y’know, the world is kinda crap. 

I walked out of my “bedroom” and into the main kitchen area of the cave. Dad was already sitting at the table, writing something down in his journal. I tried to look at it once but then I remembered I couldn’t read elvish which really really wasn’t cool. Sticking out of his arm was a needle and a long nozzle and a long tube that took his blood away and dropped it into a cup on the floor. 

“Writing anything fun today?” I said, wrapping my arms around him from behind as I tried unsucessfully to look at the book. 

“Nothing much,” dad said in hsi gruff voice. His ears were long and his hair was shiny black, like mom’s. Despite spending years in this cave with us, he was still darker skin than either me or her. That was kinda lame tbh. But whatever. Not like I had anyone to impress. I was still less pale than the other vampires we would run into here around Whatever. 

“I see,” I said, releasing him from the hug an d then looking around. “Where’s mom?” 

“She went to go see a friend of hers,” he said, continuing to write, not looking up. 

“Uh-huhhhh I see.” I paused. “That means she went to Pitter again, didn’t she?” 

“She did, yes.” 

“Aaaand she didn’t invite me.” I huffed. 

“We’ve been over this, Mara.” He still didn’t look up from his book. “You’re not allowed in Pitter again until it’s safe.”

“Right. Which will be never.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“I just think it’s lame, y’know? I haven’t been there since I was a kid. And it would be cool to see all the people there. See some people who aren’t vampires for once.”: 

“I’m not a vampire,” Dad said, matter of factly. 

“Yeah but you’re my dad, there’s a difference.” I paused and looked down at the bucket. “Is that gonna be ready soon?” 

“Give me just a few minutes,” he said. “And remember: this needs to last for a few days, at least. Can’t afford to pass out again.” 

“Yeah yeah, I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. 

Then there was a huge bang. A crash. A loud noise. 

“What the frick?” I yelled. 

Dad slammed the book down and stood up. He took the IV out of his arm and set the needle down on the table. “Mara, I’m going to need you to stay in here.” 

“Da-” 

“Just stay in here!” he yelled as he opened the door slowly and walked out of the cave. He was gone for a few minutes. I had looked at the cup of blood on the floor. If it wasn’t for the, y’know, everything going on right now, I would go ahead and eat some. But I coudln’t even think to do that, plus last thing I needed was for dad to get mad at me. 

Then finally Dad came back. But he wasn’t alone. 

In each hand, across the ground, he was dragging two bodies, one red skinned girl with horns and the other a small dragon looking boy. 

“Get the beds ready,” Dad said. “There’s been a plane crash.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: welcome to the world, Mara. Leave a review if you’re excited about Mara!


	27. makeshift hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I guess she got it at the facility? But what does it even do when you have cancer too? Shouldn’t they have been more careful? Shouldn’t they???

I looked at the two bodies on the bed. This was strange. Super super weird. And honestly kinda worrying? 

“Y’know,” I leaned over to dad. “We don’t HAVE to help them.” 

“Don’t we?” he said, looking at me. “What is it we say, Mara?” 

I huffed. “ _ There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing.”  _

“Exactly,” Dad said as he felt their foreheads. “Well, they don’t have a fever.” 

“Would they even get a fever from a… what did you call it, plane crash?” 

“Yes.” 

“What does that mean?” I asked, a bit confused. 

“A plane is like a train but in the air.” 

“Ohhh like that thing you and mom met on. Cool. I got it.” 

I looked at the two of them. Not gonna lie or be rude but they looked really really not good. They were full of cuts and bruises and dirt and stuff. Sucks to suck. It’s a shame. If they were vampires, this would be easy: we’d just give them some blood and then boom, it’s all done and fixed up. 

“How long do you think they’ll be out for?” i asked dad. 

“Hard to say. I’m not a medical doctor.” 

“Oh right.” ANd then I grinned. “Any song you can play for them to make it better?” 

Dad just rolled his eyes. Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. 

“I’ll get it!” i said as I began walking towards the door but then Dad pulled me back. 

“Nope. Stay in here and make sure they don’t wake up.” 

He shut the door behind him and then walked over into the living area. I looked over at them. This was bullcrap. How dare dad not trust me? He never trusts me. I’m 14, not 11. 

An idea occured to me. What’s to say I can’t listen in? I creaked open the door a little bit and peaked my eye through. 

I could see dad in the doorway talking to what appeared to be a chest high purple hedgehog wearing sneakers. 

“What’re you doing here, Vergil?” dad asked. 

“I got what you wanted!” the hedgehog said in his voice which sounded very… radical? And gnarly? He reached into his bag and pulled out something. 

“Hey, woah,” Dad said. “What’re you doing? You can’t just pull it out here. And don’t show up to my house with dangerous stuff like this. You could’ve been followed.” 

Vergil laughed. “Hah. As if they’d be fast enough to follow me.” 

Dad took the bag from Vergil. “You should’ve just given this to Fidan. She was in Pitter. You could’ve saved yourself the trip.” 

“Oh! I didn’t realize she was. I’ll tell my rootnewts in town to send their regards to her!” 

“Thank you,” Dad said. “Now please leave before you bring us any more trouble.” 

“More trouble?” Verigle questioned but then he shook his head and pulled out a small bag from… somewhere on his body. He held a ring up in the air. “Eh. Whatever.” 

He threw the ring into space besides him and it turned big and made a portal and then he stepped in it. Dad began to turn around and before he could, I made sure to shut the door again and turn around to see the red skinned girl standing up. 

“Oh uhhhhh hi,” she said. “Where am I?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: who is this? Leave a review with your guesses jk we all know who it is


	28. training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad sat down with me and asked if i wawnted to talk and i told him no

I did a fucking cool overhead sweep but I guess she saw it and was able to block it and deflect it beforeanad. Ugh, iniquity was so fucking furstrating to fight against. How was she so good at being sneaky? Stupid rogues ugh

She kept countering and countering my attacks and pushing me back and it reminded me of the train and that left my guard down adn then she smiled and swept my foot and then held the lightsaber up to my neck. 

“You let your guard down, Blood Charm,” Iniqiuty said. 

“That’s enough, Idleberry,” our mentor said. “Let Ms. Blood Charm get back to her feet.” 

Iniquity rolled her eyes and retracted her saber and then held out her hand and helped me up. I got up off of my ass and gave her a glance. I’ve been here for months now, the semester was almost over and I still couldn’t tell if they liked me or not. Mi’ra and Winslayer both looked annoyed and disappointed while Severpth seemed mostly confied to herself, like always. 

“Way to go, Raven,” Winslayer said. “You might not make Severpth the weak link of our team anymore.” 

“Children, that is enough,” our mentor said. He walked over to me. He was tall, with pale skin, red eyes and long black hair. His name was Darthtis Darthtisian. 

“That’s enough for our mentor lessons for today,” Darthtis said. “Disperse for now. Go to the rest of your classes.” I started to walk away but then before I could get too far, he grabbed me by my shoulder. “Not you, Ms. Blood Charm. I’m afraid I’m going to need you to come with me to my office.” 

OH NO WTF

WTF did I do?? Am I geting in trouble?? That’s not fair wtf

But i didn’t have much of an option so I was just like “okay yeah sure” and i followed him back to his ofcie. 

It was a small isolated area, with a bunch of desks and things to write on. He sat down at his desks and began to write a thing and then stopped writing. 

“Ms. Blood Charm, I have a feeling that you’ve been having some difficulty.” 

How did he know?? Was it that obvious? 

“Is it that obvious, sir?” 

“It’s very very obvious,” Darthis. Sighed and then rubbed his temples. “Ms. Blood Charm, may I ask what reservations you may be having?” 

I thought about it for a bit. Why was i having reservations? I should be fine. I should be a good sith lord. 

“Well, My sith powers were taken from my clone an-” 

“That’s just an excuse, Ms. Blood Charm. And you know it. A true sith is not limited by the physical limitations of their body, only by their own desire for power. Do you desire power, Ms. Blood Charm?” 

“Yes!! Yes I do!!” 

“Why do you desire power?” he leaned back in his chair. “What drives you as a person?” 

“I want to kill my clone!” I answered badassly. 

“Thta’s not enough, Ms. Blood Charm, and you know it,” Darthis sighed. “Yiu need to dig deeper. Dig into your own psyche. This clone of yours, she routinely beat the shit out of you, correct?” 

“Yeah, she did…” I felt a twinge of pain in my hand. 

“Why do you think that is? What do you think it is about her that makes her more powerful?” 

“Well she has the chaos emeralds…” 

Darthtis rubbed his temples. “No no. Those are physical things. What do you think drove her to being able to go against you and continously win? Why did she fight you in the first place?” 

I thought about it for a bit. What did drive Clone Raven? I had never really thought about. 

“I guess she hates me because… I was going to dissimilate her… And she wanted to stop that and take me down. Because she was jealous of me. Because she hated me.” 

“Good, you’re getting it,” Darthis said. “And that hatred of you, that simply made her stronger. No matter when she would feel like giving up, she always had that hatred to drive her. SO tell me, do you hate your Clone?” 

“Yes!” I yelled. “Yes I do!! More than anyone else in the world!!” 

“Why do you hate her?” 

“Because… she killed my friends and then turned them against me! She’s responsbile for the death of my sister and my father! She destroyed my home! She took everything from me! And my friends like her more than they like me! It’s liek they;ve just formed some cult around her and it’s so… so fucking bullshit!” 

“Good. Very very good, Ms. Blood Charm. I want you to internaize that hatred. Let it drive you. Let it fuel you. No matter how weak you feel, remember the hatred that lives in your heart and you’ll never be truly weak.” 

“Yes sir!” i said, angry and excited. Though there was some thing that was bothering me. “But, uh, sir… I think I know another problem I’m having.” 

“Oh? What’s that?” 

“Well, my group mates… they’re versions of my friends from another universe. I don’t feel fully… comfortable fighting them becuase it feels like I’m hurtin gmy friends.” 

daArthtis just sighed and put his head in his hadns. “Ms. Blood Charm, if I’ve learned anyhting in all of my years, it’s that you can’t let your connections keep you back from your goals. Do you think that I became as powerful of a Sith Lord as I am by holding onto the people that i love?” 

“N-no sir,”i siad nervously. 

He sighed again. “I can arrange for a duel between you and another student, though, if you think that’ll help.” 

“REally? Thanks!” i said and went to hug him but then he pushed me away. 

“No.” 

I took the hint and walked out of the office, closing the door behind me, which autoslammed by default. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: hopefully this helps raven. Leave reviews if you wnat raven to get stronger!


	29. a higher class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i skipped my zoom classes today

It was a few days since I had talked to Darthis and i was sitting in class, like normal. Tbh it was kinda fun being in school again. I had only gotten to go school at Wild Cliff for a few months and Clone Raven was created on my first day so I didn’t really get to enjoy it so much. I was glad I had enough time to just…. Have most of this semester go by smoothely. 

I was sitting in one of my favorite classes, Defense Against the Light Side. It was one of the few classes with Severepth, who sat next to me. God, she wa salways so fucking jittery. What was her problem? 

We watched the dragonborn professor at the front of the classroom stnad by the chalkboard and scream. 

“YOU CAN’T TRUST THE LIGHT SIDE.” professor deeptear yelled. “THEY’RE GOING TO DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO ABSOLUTELY FUCK YOU UP. WHICH IS WHY CLASS TODAY WILL BE ABOUT ONE VERY VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT” 

He began writing word on the board in universal and then turned to us and read the word aloud. “REDEMPTION ARCS.” 

I began writign notes. THis seemed important. 

“NOW, IT IS INEVITIABLE THAT AT SOEM POINT IN TIME, SOMEONE IS GOING TO TRY TO WRAP YOU INTO SOME REDEMPTION ARC. AND YOU MAY BE LIKE, ‘PROFESSOR DEEPTEAR, WHAT’S WRONG WITH REDEMPTION ARCS? THEY SEEM HARMELESS’ AND TO THAT I SAY GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF MAGGOT OR I WILL THROW YOU OUT OF MY CLASSROOM AND DUMP TEA ON YOUR HEAD I SWEAR TO GOD.” 

I wrote that down verbatim in my notes, in case it came back later. 

“sTUDENTS, IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT REDEMPTION ARCS ARE TRAPS. THEY’RE ACTUALLY A WAY TO MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR RESOLVE AND YOUR PURPOSE. IT’S NOTHING MORE THAN A COMMON BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUE TO CONVERT YOU TO THEIR “lIGhT sIdE” WAY OF THINKING. AND WHAT’S WORSE IS HOW TEMPTING THEY CAN BE. SAY YOUR ESTRANGED SON COMES UP AND TRIES TO BRING YOU BACK TO YOUR ROOTS? OR THE GHOST OF YOUR DEAD DAD COMES AND IS LIKE ‘HEY STOP BEING EVIL.’ YOU MAY BE TEMPTED TO JUST BEFRIEND THEM BUT LET ME TELL YOU YOU DON’T WANNA DO THAT. YOU KNOW WHY?” 

He began writing on the board once more adn then he read off the words again. “REDEMPTION EQUALS DEATH. IN EVERY INSTANCE OF A REDEMPTION ARC, THE PERSON BEING REDEEMED WILL THEN IMMEDIATELY DIE IN ORDER TO CLEANSE THEIR SOUL OR SOME BULLSHIT. AND LET ME TELL YOU, THISI S A TRICK. IT’S AN EASY WAY FOR JEDI AND LIGHT SIDE USERS TO GET YOU OUT OF THE WAY. AND I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU FALLING FOR IT.” 

I made a note of it. Though tbh how silly. I didn’t need to worry about a redmeption arc. I don’t need a redemption arc. I’m not evil. 

I loolked over to Severepth, who weirdly enough wasn’t writing notes. 

“ALRIGHT Y’ALL I’M FUCKING TIRED SO BEFORE I DISMISS YOU, I WANNA SAY THAT FINALS ARE STARTING SOON SO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR THAT. I’LL SEE SOME OF YOU HERE NEXT TIME.” 

I was packign away but severepth was still. Too still. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” i asked. 

“Finals… it can’t be... “ 

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Yeah i know, that’s gonna be tense. We better study” 

“No. It means we might die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no! WHat does htis mean? Leave reviews to find out


	30. it’s a struggle, it’s a war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec told me he’s sorry about what he’s heard… i told him thanks… i wish i could be honest with him

“Finals, huh? Fuck yeah,” Mi’ra said as she buttered her biscuits. We were all sitting in the dining hall, talking it over. 

“I’m confused,” I said. “I’ve only been here for a few months. SHouldn’t it be midterms and not finals?” 

“Oh you poor clueless girl,” Winslayer said. “Sinderman, you wanna explain it ot her?” 

Severpeth spoke up in a quiet voice. “They’re… not called finals because htey’re your final exams for the semester. They’re called finals because they’re the final thing you’re going to do.” 

I thoguth about it for a secod. “Wait, what do you mean?” 

“It’s a culling, basically,” INiquity said as she ate some crackers. “A competition to the death to see which group of Sith students is going to be the last one left standing.” 

“Oh god oh fuck,” I said. “Why would they do that??” 

“Because there can only be a certain number of sith lords, duh,” Mi’ra said. “Honestly Raven sometimes you talk like you’re out of a whole other universe.” 

“Yeah hahahahahhahahahaha” i said. “Fuck…” 

“You’re not scared, are you?” Winslayer said. 

“What? Me? Raven Willow Blood CHarm? Hah!” i gave a totally real laugh. “I’m not afraid of anything!! “

“Well you may not be afraid of anything but you sure do suck shit at fighting,” Iniqiuty said as she ate some of Mi’ra’s biscuits. 

“Yeah, fair point…” Severepth said. 

“I’m the aboslute best at fighting!! Always have been! And i’ll prove it soon!” 

“Yeah?” Winslayer said. “I hope so. Because you and Severpth are the weak links in this group and I don’t wwanna die.” 

Just then, a crimson jeed came in and walked over to the table. 

“Raven Willow Blood Charm, your opponent has agreed and your duel will be commensed after lunch.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review if you wish them luck in finals


	31. dueling buddies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m just feeling so… angry these days

I stood up in the long runway in the middle of the great hall. A bunch of students and staff were standing around, watching me. Y’know, when I agreed to do this, I was hoping for a small subdued sorta thing, not this big school wide event but what the fuck. 

Stnading directly across from me was my opponent: the white dragon born known as... Murderdeen Purebone. He was tossing off his robe into the audience, where one of his admirers caught it and then cheered and sniffed it. He rolled his neck around and stretche d out his arms and felt up his biceps. 

In the crowd, watching us, was Darthtis, my mentor. I wonder if he had a say in who I would fight or if he just asked whoever. But whatever. I could fight Murderdeen. It’s just Murderdeen. Who gives a shit? 

A man in a referree outfit stepped into the middle of the stage. “Alright we wnana thank yuou all for joining us tongiht for this duel. Now remember, regular class duel rules apply, so no light side magic, no murder, and no outside help. Got it?” 

“GOt it,” murderdeen said in his deep chad voice. 

“Mhm.” I said. 

“Then without further ado, let the duel of Raven WIllow Blood Charm and Murderdeen Purbone commence!” 

I went to reach for my lightsaber but immediately before I could, Murderdeen held out his hand and i could feel myself being pulled towards him by soem force (probably the force tbh). He got out his lightsaber and began swinging it over my ehad. Thankfully i got out of the force hold and was able to dodge in time and got out my lightsaber and block his swing. 

It continued like htat, him swinging and swinging and me blocking. He was strong. I had to use so much of my strength to block his attacks that I oculdn’t even thing of going on the offense. And what’s worse is that he didn’t even look stressed. Same nonchalant face as always. What a fucking tool. 

He used the force again to sweep me off my feet and trip me up. I tried to get up but he swung by my leg so all I could do was crawl backwards to avoid his blade. But he just kept swinging. Fuck fuck fuck. What do I do? 

As i stepped back, I passed by what i saw was Darthis at the corner of my eye. And it hit me. I needed to fremember the advice he had given me. 

I closed my eyes. And I thoguth about hatred. 

I thoguht about Clone Raven. I thoguth about what it lookedl ike when she killed my dad. Her smiliing face as she took his life. How remorseless she was. How she took everything from me and didn’t even apolgoize. 

But that wasn’t enough. Right now, Clone Raven wasn’t my enemy. I need to thinka bout how much I hate Murudneen. 

And wow, I do. There was a moment where Imihgt’ve liked him, but he was a prick. He had weird views on the world. If I hadn’t had a thing for him, Clone Raven wouldn’t have been born because I wouldn’t have needed to make her. And who knows what the fuck bullshit he told her. And then he took the gun for her and tried to kill? 

And then there was that oone time that Murderdeen spat in my face. 

It was bullshit. I was being treated like shit and it wasn’t fair. I was so fucking angry. I’m so fucking done. I fucking hate everyone. 

I openeed my eyes. 

I dodged his blade by doing a backflip and then, in one clean stroke, i swung my saber directly across his neck. 

Silence filled the room. 

Murderdeen stood still for a second before his head rolled off into the audience and into the hands of the admirer who had his jacket. She screamed.

As the body fell to the ground, I stood up, towering over him and looked at the crowd, proud of my kill. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Rip Murderdeen


	32. the pages of fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: there’s nothing i want more thna to cry into someone’s arms

“Y’know, this isn’t really fair,” Elrich said as he began stacking the books back up, off of the tiny cart and back onto the shelf. 

“Yeaaaah… you’re right….” Teb said, quietly, as always. Elrich was surprised at how the boy had opened up slightly, slowly, mainly to him. He was actually quite nice, once you got to know him. Just very shy. Which wasn’t too an issue. There was a time when Elrich was quite shy too. 

“Like, okay,” Elrich said, placing one more book on the shelf. “I get it. We broke the rules. We went to the underground section of the dining cart after hours. Okay. Cool. Whatever. But that doesn’t explain why we’re stuck on library duty. Fidan was just forced to go on the field trip to Isathil, while all Artis has to do is just perform music every week for the monday parties.” 

Teb was silent for a bit. “... you’re jealous that they asked Artis to play instead of you, aren’t you?” 

“We’re both bards!” Elrich yelled beofre being sushed by Ava. “I don’t get it!” 

“Me neither, man…” Teb stood on his tip toes to put a book up. “Me neither.” 

“Ah well,” Elrich sat down. “At least we’ve still got traincoming coming up.” 

“Oh yeah….” teb sighed, in a shy like whisper. “Traincoming… do you know who you’re asking yet?” 

He thought about her gorgeous smile and infectious laugh and her beautiful blue eyes. “Yeah. Yeah i do.” 

Teb looked at Elrich, squinting both his eyes. “Oh… oh I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” 

“Hm?” Elrich snapped out of his daze and turned to his friend. “What about you? Who are you asking?” 

Teb looked down at the ground and wiggled his feet. “I don’t wanna say…” 

“What? Why?” 

Teb sniffled a bit. “Because… you’ll make fun of me…” 

“Oh, Teb,” he walked over and kneeld besides his ginger friend. “I would never.” 

“You mean it?” 

“Of course.” Elrich smiled.

Teb was silent for a few mmoments before finally he spoke up. “Toby…” 

“Toby? Wheatgrass?” Elrich thought ofr a second. He didn’t even know the two knew each other. “I didn’t even know you two knew each other.” 

“Yeah, well, i met him last time we were on book duty and idk… he’s cute…. I guess…” teb trailed off. 

“Well, hey, I say go for it!” Elrich smiled again. 

“R-really??” 

“Yeah! Can’t see why he wouldn’t want to be with a guy like you! He’d be lucky, tbh.” 

Teb went and gave Elrich a deep hug. “Thanks, friend.” 

“Of course.” Elrich broke off the hug and went back to putting away books. It was quiet for a few moments before Teb finally spoke up again. 

“Y’know, he helped me find a book here.” 

“Oh?” Elrich’s brow raised. 

“Yeah. A book about The Heart of the Wild Cliff Express.” 

“Oh.” Elrich said, blutnly. “Why? Isn’t that just, like, an urban legend?” 

“But what if it wasn’t?” Teb said, his voice more animated than Elrich had ever heard it before. “What if it was real and we could find it?” 

“I don’t know why’d we want to find it.” Elrich put another book on teh shelf. “Can’t imagine anything good anyone could actually do with it.” 

“Oh.” Teb was silent for a few minutse. Too long. It made the quietness of the restricted section even eerier. Finally, he spoke up again. “Hey Elrich, you’re good at keeping secrets, right?” 

Elrich paused, ran over this new suggestion in his mind, and turned to the small boy. “I believe so.” 

“There’s… there’s something I have to tell you…” Teb looked down nervously, antsy, more so than usual. Elrich wasn’t sure what was going on until Teb slowly rolled up the sleeve on his left arm and flipped it over, showing the S brand on his wrist. 

“Oh my god.” Elrich took a few steps back. “Teb. You didn’t.” 

“I did…” 

“But why?? When we met her down there, it was clear she was super weird, dude!” 

“Okay, yeah, she may be a bit… fishy, BUT” Teb looked him in the eye. “She gets results and it’s the easiest way to get them.” 

“What did you even ask for!? What could you possibly want??” Elrich yelled. Ava shusshed them again but they just ignored it. 

“I wanted info on all the god objects…” 

“Why? WHat could you possibly do with that info? Was that really worth selling your soul for? You realize that when you die, Seltie gets your soul, and who knows what she’s going to do with it!” 

“Aha, but you see, that’s the thing.” Teb was speaking with a sense of confidence and fury that Elrich had never seen from him. “That’s where I got her. If I find all of the god objects, I can keep myself from dying. Then she can’t get me at all! So I basically won already.” 

“You didn’t win, dude,” Elrich rolled his eyes and put one more book on the shelf. “You still have to, y’kmow, find them.” 

“Right… Wanna help me with that?” Teb asked, with a smile. 

“What? No. God, no. I never want to look for those things.” 

“Oh….” Teb looked down, sad. He grabbed a book off of the cart and put it onto the shelf. “Y’know, before she left, I told Fidan about a god object in Isathill. In case she wanted to look for it” 

“Oh?” Elrich’s ears perked up. “You did?” 

“Yeah, since I can’t go there myself right now, I thought I’d go ahead and let her know about the Earth Angel.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh teb what’re you doing, leave a review if you wanna slap Teb upside the head


	33. a refreshing morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I deleted my Instagram. Don’t wanna see Alyssa and Michelle talking anymore.

Seirnepth woke up feeling well rested. Okay, slightly hung over, but she was used to that at this point. She laid there for a bit in the giant bed. Who knew rock elementals would still sleep on beds so soft? She wasn’t quite sure why but she would just assume that they slept on rocks or something but maybe that was small minded of her. 

She heard her door open so she finally sat up to see who had come into her room. 

“Good morning, m’lady,” Yelm said, holding a neatly folded stack of clothes which he rested on the vanity stool across from the bed. 

Serinepth smiled. “Good morning, Yelm. How’s the kids?” 

Yelm beamed with pride. “Oh very very good! Just little sweet hearts. Yuffie is doing well too.” 

“Excellent, I’m glad to hear that.” Serinpeth got out of bed and walked over to the pile of clothes. “I do hope I get to meet your wife someday.” 

“I’m sure she’d love to have you!” 

Serinepth grabbed the clothes and stepped behind the folded up wall that would allow her to change. She yelled over to Yelm. “Say, Yelm, can you tell me today’s date?” 

“It is March 13, 1921, m’lady,” Yelm siad. 

“March 13th??” Serinepth thought about it. There was no way that could be right… Had she really been here a week already? 

I guess she had been. Weird how time passes sometimes. But she was having fun! And being in the castle felt a lot like being back home, or rather… back in Wild Cliff. 

It was great. 

She got dressed and walked out of the screen door. Yelm bowed. 

“I take it the grand emporer wants to see me?” Serinepth asked. 

“He always does,” Yelm said with a smile. “Come on, let me take you to him.” 

Yelm lead Serinpeth down the grand halls of the grand Patter castle. It truly was magicicant, a real work of art the likes of which Serinpeth couldn’t help but appreciate. It was super super cool and she loved it. 

Grand Emporer Corka was in the dining hall, eating his breakfast of rocks. There was already a plate of bacon and eggs and porg set out for Serinepth, however. 

“Seriepnth! Fuck yeah! “ Corka said. “Take a seat, take a seat. Good to have you!” 

“Good to be here,” Serinepth said as she took a bite. 

Corka slapped the side of his head. “Oh fuck, where the fuck are my manners?” He took a baggie out of his pocket and dumped some dust on the table in front of serinepth. 

“Thank you,” she said as she took a long snort. OOOF. That was some good shit. Good good good good shit. She felt all giggly. Wow. 

“Of course, of course,” Corka said as he took a sniff of it himself. OOF. Good shit. Good good good good shit. So tell me a bit about yourself? HOw was your schoo l like? 

She took more and more bites of her food very rapidly. “Oh, it was wonderful! The best! Lots of students and lots of knights at my disposable.” 

“Did the knights listen to everything you wanted??” Corka banged the table with excitement. 

“They did!!” 

“Oh fuck yeah!! That’s what i want! That’s so fucking legit!” Corka slammed . 

“Like yeah we overstepped out bounds, maybe,” Seripenth took another bite. “But, y’know, you GOTTA keep the peace, no matter what.” 

“Agreed, girl, agreed,” Corka held his cup up in the air and down his drink in one go. 

“We had this nice sun room, y’know…”Serinepth trailed off. “Where you could kill vampires i nit… I didn’t get to use it though!” 

“You didn’t get to use it??” 

“No! The vampire broke out of prison!” 

“Oh that’s fucking bullshit!!” Corka slammed on the table. “I hope you executed her!!” 

She thought about it. She didn’t. She was going to sentence Raven to die but then she didn’t. Why didn’t she? It was so hard to think clearly. Her head was a whirl. “Yeah. yeah she’s gone.” 

“Good,” Corka said. “I fuckign hate vampires. Can’t stand them.” 

Just then, the diing room doors slammed opened and Teb walked in, head held high. “Sir. Your troops have returned with intel. You are needed.” 

“Ah fuck, this better be good.” Corka scooted himself out of the table and walked out of the room. Teb just closed the door behind him and walked over to Serinepth. 

“So,” He said, jumping on the table, kneeling in front of her. “Wild Clif Express, correct?” 

“Hm?” Seripneth looked at the tiny nothic, her vision a bit blurred from the everything she had had. “Oh. Yeah. Yeah I guess so.” 

“Haven’t heard too many updates on that school. Tell me, is it still going well?” 

“It blew up.” seripneth meant to lie but I guess in all the haze she had forgotten too. Oops. 

“It blew up??” Teb looked shocked and… a bit worried? 

“Ohhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeahhhhh it diddddddddddddd.” 

“That’s… that’s…” Teb paced back and forth on the table. “No no no. That makes no sense. The train was magic. Only way it could be damaged is…” 

“The heart? Yeah we found it.” Seriepnth giggled a bit and gave another snort of the powder. 

“You did??” Teb rolled over and grabbed her collar. “You have to tell me everything! Please!” 

But before she could, Corka slammed the doors open again. 

He smiled proudly. “Oh wait until I tell you the good fucking news I just got!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leaves reviews with what you think the news is


	34. office life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i haven’t left my room in two days

“Can you hand me that stack of papers over there?” rock jerry asked, pointing to the desk next to the bee cage. 

“Huh? Oh, sure,” Winsler said, walking over to grab the huge stack as tall as him. He set the papers down.

“Thank you, “ Rock Jerry grabbed htem and looked at them for a second before setting it back down. 

Winsler looked around. “So, uhhh… this is it, huh?” 

“Yep. This is it.” 

“Don’t you have anyone here to help you? Or keep you company?” 

“Well there was Paper Larry and Scissors Barry but they left years ago after they were fired and murdered.” 

“Huh.” Winsler paused for a second before it hit him. “Wait, did you say murdered?” 

“Yeah. That was part of downsizing on Corka’s part. Personally I don’t mind.” 

“You… don’t mind that your coworkers died? “

“Corka keeps us protected from the elves… that’s all I care about…” 

“Uh-huh. I see.” Winsler looked down at his watch only to remember he wasn’t wearing a watch. Then he looked at the clock on the wall. “Well, I’ve been here about an hour. I think I should go.” 

“Oh, you can’t go,” Rock jerry said nonchalantly as he organized through papers. 

“What do you mean i can’t go?” 

The door only opens from the outside,” ROck Jerry said as he did some scribbles on the paper. “That way we can’t go out and take breaks outside of break hours.” 

“What the fuck” winsler said. “When’s the last time you got a break?” 

Rock Jerry leaned back and thought about it. “Oh geez. I don’t know. Time has been weird recently. Maybe…. Three months?” 

“Three months??” Winsler yelled. “I can’t wait that long, i have friends to save!” 

“Well don’t worry about that. Corka will make sure your friends are safe. He always does.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip paper larry and scissors barry


	35. a grand plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: yesterday i was lying in bed and listening to music and all of a sudden my heart started beating really fast and i was super sweaty and my fingers felt numb and then after a few minutes i felt fine but still a bit panicky

“Alright, fuckers, gatehr around, “Corka said as he gathered everyone (and by everyone, he meant the only characters that matter right now: Corka, Teb, Serinpeth, and Yelm) around a map of Isathil. 

He pointed at the map. “Here’s the sitch. I’ve just been informed by my scouts that they’ve found energy signals similar to the Earth Angel in both Whatever and is Pitter.” 

“OH MY GOD!” teb yelled. “Sir, that would mean you’d have-” 

“3, yes. More than enough for our purposes.” 

Serinepth didn’t know what they were talking about but she was just vibing and nodding along. 

“Hold on a second, sir,” Yelm said, softly and gently. “With all due respect, in order for this to work, you’d need to infiltrate both Whatever and Pitter and that’s certainly hard to pull off.” 

“Oh FUCK OFF, YELM, “ corka yelled. “What, do you doubt our military? Do you think we’re not good enough?? Is that what you think? “

“No, no! Not at all sir!” Yelm bowed. 

“We’ve infiltrated Pitter before sucessfully. It’s how we got the first piece of the Earth Angel,” Teb said. 

“Fuckin A! See, Teb’s right!” Corka took out a marker and drew circles. “We’ll just send some rock people in. The energy level from Pitter is way higher than that of Whatever, so Teb, i’ll be sending you back to Pitter and Yelm, I’ll be sending you and two soldiers to Whatever.” 

“Got it,” The two said. 

“And what about her?” Teb pointed to Seripneth. 

“She can’t participate!” Yelm yelled. “She’s our guest!” 

“Well…” corka said. “That’s uhhhh what I was about to get to.” 

Corka bowed to Serinepth. “Sinderman, the last month you’ve spent here has been amazing. You’re proven yourself as a true Patterson. Our head of the planning unit, Har, has been indisposed. Would you mind taking his place?” 

Serinepth was bearly understanding but I guess she finally did. A job?? Was she being an offered a job? In this castle??? For this administration?? But… she couldnt’ committ to a job! She had to find her friends! 

But then again… 

Patter WAS the safest place in Isathill. And the most glorious of the kingdoms. And a great place! She was sure that her friends would end up here anyway, and if so, Corka would protect them. 

Plus she wanted to help out! She hadn’t gotten to help like this since she was headmisstress! And sure, she’d still be workign undersomeone, but that was fiiiiiiiiiiiine. 

Serinpeth got on one knee and kneeled. “I am honored to serve you, Grand Emperor Corka.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh glad serinpeth got a job! Leave a review if you want a job


	36. to play with fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m so tired, i wanna just crawl into dad’s arms

“No, no, you’re playing it wrong,” Artis said as he plucked the strings on his lyre. 

“How am I playing it wrong?” Elrich looked at his fingerings. He was doing everything correctly, just as Artis was. He just didn’t undertsand. Was he dumb? 

“You’re starting on C. It starts on B and THEN goes to C and then goes to D and then back down to B C B. It’s a really simple riff.” 

“Well, if it’s so simple, why can’t I get it…” Elrich pouted. 

“I don’t know, maybe you just need to practice more instead of reading your law books.” Artis kept playing. 

Elrich closed his eyes and tried once again. He needed to feel the music. Feel the energy and the power that flowed with it. He was doing it. He was doing it. It sounded beautiful. 

“You’re playing it wrong again, dude.” Artis said. 

Elrich opened his eyes. “What?? No I wasn’t! Are you playing games with me?” 

“No. I’m playing lyre with you.” Artis continued plucking, focusing on the sweet sound. It sounded beautiful and wonderful. It was the most gorgeous music Elrich had ever heard. 

“What even is this tune anyway?” Elrich asked. “It’s not in any of the textbooks.” 

“It’s an old song I wrote for Fidan, when we were kids,” 

Elrich didn’t like to think about that. I mean, yeah, he knew Fidan and Artis were childhood friends and they were close. Hell, they even looked alike. Same black hair and ears and blue eyes. It was weird seeing the qualities he found so attractive in Fidan in Artis as well. It made him feel things sometimes

“Hey, that reminds me,” Elrich said, setting aside his lyre. “Have you talked to Fidan recently?” 

Artis stopped playing. He froze. “Yeah. Yeah I have.” 

“Really?” Elrich grew even more concerned. “She hasn’t talked to me ever since she got back from Isathill… and she hasn’t been to any of the classes we share either…” 

“She’s going through some things. Just drop it and give her time.” Artis tried to go back to playing. 

“Is she okay?? Is something wrong??” Elrich couldn’t help but be worried. What was going on? And why did she tell Artis and not him?? Is she okay?? Did something go wrong in Isathill? 

“Look, Raethran, just drop it.” Artis said bluntly. 

“I… fine…” Elrich picked up his lyre again. “Now can you help me learn how to play this song then I can help you study for your history exam.” 

Artis was quiet for a second. Was that… a tear in his eye? “Yeah. Yeah let’s keep practicing.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aw glad to see the two of them bonding. Leave a review if you like Elrich + Artis


	37. when two red heads meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dylan is so nice and sweet and cool and i enjoy talking to him a lot but also nope nope nope we’re not doing this again, absolutely not

I looked at the red skinned and horned girl standing in front of me and she looked me in the eyes. 

“Okay so seriously?” she said. “Where am I? Last thing I remember was a plane crash. Did I survive? Is this Hell?”

“What? No!” i said, a bit stunned and finding it hard to make words go to brain. “You’re not in Hell.’ 

She rolled her head and I could hear the pop of the joints on her neck. “Oh. Then where am I?” 

“Whatever.” 

“Well it may be whatever to you but it matters to me so I would really appreciate it if you let me know!” she yelled. 

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh” i said putting a finger to her mouth. “I mean the place you’re in. It’s called Whatever.” 

“Oh. You should’ve just said that.” the strange girl said bluntly. “Oh! Where are my manners, I should introduce myself! Hello! I’m level 6 tiefling rogue Integrity Idleberry!” 

“Teeth-ling?” i looked at her. What was her problem? Who was this? She was…. I don’t… 

“Okay now you go!” Integrity said with a smile. 

“I go??” 

“Yeah! Y’know, your intro. You gotta have a killer intro. Y’know, like,” She spun around and put one leg in the air and then pointed at me. “ _ Integrity Idleberry! Level 6 tiefling rogue! _ ” 

My jaw was dropped. I could feel a headache coming on. “I… okay. I’m Mara Artisan. Level something vampire half-elf.” 

She waved her arms around. “No no, not like that! More enthusiasm! You gotta have more enthusiasm! You gotta at least do a spin!” 

“I’m not going to do a spin.” 

“Aw, dang. You’re not fun.” Integrity said with a pout. She walked over to the dragon looking boy on the bed. “Is he okay?” 

“Hm?” i looked over at him. “Oh, uh. I don’t know. He hasn’t woken up yet.” 

“Dang. And the others?” 

“Others…?” I got confused. What did she mean ‘others?’ 

She brushed her hair away with a flick of her wrist. “Ah, well. THey’re talented. They can handle themselves. So you’re a vampire?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah?” 

“That’s cool! My ex was a vampire, y’know? That was fun. But weird. Super super weird…” she looked sad then, almost as if she was… thinking about something. What could she possibly be thinking about though? 

But then almost as soon as she entered it, her sad state was over and she perked up again. “Oh! I’m starving! Do you have anything to eat?” 

My eyelid twitched a little. “I… I don’t know? Maybe?” 

“Well, I’ll just go ahead and check!” Integrity said as she opened the wooden door. 

“Wait!” i yelled as she slammed the door behind herself. 

I rubbed my temples. Why? Just… why? 

I opened the door to see her standing there, looking at dad with her jaw dropped. 

“Oh… Artis…” she said. “It’s… you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh she’s awake! Leave a review if you missed integrity!


	38. mentor and murder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: anyone got any good fic recommendations? Speicially T&T ones. I need something to get my mind off of everything

“Artis!” she yelled once more. 

“Yes, that is in fact my name,” Dad said dryly. He was leaning under the fridge for some reason but he straightened his back up. 

“Are you a ghost?” Integrity asked. “Like one to teach me a lesson? Was I right? Is this actually Hell?” 

Dad was just silent for a moment. He inhaled a deep breath through his nose. “I’m… sorry. I’m not afraid I understand. Do I know you?” 

“Maybe?? I don’t know! But I know you!” Integrity yelled. “We killed you! Twice!” 

WHAT???? 

Who the frick was this girl?? 

Dad rubbed his temples. “Okay. Ms. uhhhh” 

Integirty opened her mouth to speak and I could see her start to turn so I interrupted instead. “Her name is Integrity Idleberry.” 

“Ms. Idleberry. Okay. Please take a seat. I feel like we have a lot to talk about.” 

Integrity shrugged and sat down on the straw couch we had set up. I saw down on the recliner, eyeing her nervously. I was suspicious. If she was to attack, I neeeded to be on ther eady. I mean, she might some assassin, sent to kill my dad. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened. Or the first time she’s done it, apparently. 

“Ms. Idleberry, i take it a tiefling like yourself doesn’t consume blood. Am I correct in that guess?” 

“Uhh no…” Integrity said. “But I am adaptable if you need me to be! I ate a heart once!!” 

“Uh-huh…” Dad opened up the cabinet and pulled out some grounds. “I’ll just make you some coffee.” 

I watched as dad brewed a kettle of coffee. I don’t know how he could stand the stuff tbh. It was so… icky? I don’t get what non vampires see in things that aren’t blood tbh 

Dad returned and gave a mug of blood to me. “Here you go, sweetheart.” 

“Thanks dad…” I said blushing. Why was I blushing? I guess it felt… embaressing to be treated like this in front of this girl. But I also didn’t care about this girl. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

“And here you go,” he said as he handed the coffee cup to Integrity. “Now, we don’t have much food fit for mortal consumption so please be moderate with tha-” 

Before he could finish, Integrity raised the mug up to her lips and chugged all of the coffee in one large gulp. She set the cup on the table. “Sorry, Artis. What were you saying?” 

Dad just sighed. “Ms. Idleberry. It appears that there is more to your story. It appears that you have some knowledge of me. Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” 

“Oh right!” She sat up and straightened out. “So let me try to summarize it as best as I can, okay? So a few years ago we accidentally killed you in a thing, or a version of you from our universe, because you see, I’m from a different universe but please keep that on the downlow. And we sold our souls to Seltie to replace you but we replaced you with a pirate version of you because Seltie is really really bad at her job and we just had to live with it. And then a few years later some shit happened with the chaos emeralds and our universe was in danger and so my friends who used to be your pupils and also my vampire ex girlfriend killed you to help save the day but I think that actually ruined things more? Then my clone’s ex shot me and then I woke up on this train called the Wild Cliff Express and I was in this place called Beyond Zed and I was the leader there and then we fought this woman named Pirate Fidan and then my ex was actually gas lighting me and catfishing me and then we teamed up with her clone and I staged class warefare and then the train crashed and then we got on a plane and then the plane crashed and anyway, TL;DR: now I’ m here!” 

Dadjust rubbed his temples. I’ve never seen him so frustrated before. Angry, yeah. But never this… exasperated. “Okay. So let’s take this bit by bit. You’re from another universe, right?” 

“Yes!” 

“And you know Seltie?” 

“Yeah! She helped us out-” 

“When you killed me. OKay.” Dad inhaled. “And then you killed a pirate version of me?” 

“Yes! Sorry!” 

“It’s whatever. And I take it this… Pirate Fidan. She had some relation to this… Pirate version of me?” 

“Yes! She was Pirate Artis’ husband! Er, wait. She was his pirate wife.” 

I tried to imagine a pirate version of dad and shivvered. Wait. Did this mean there was a pirate version of me?? 

“I see. And you said you were on the Wild Cliff Express.” 

“Yeah!” 

“And it exploded.” 

“Oh…” Integrity looiked off and down at her shoes. “Yeaaaaaaaaaah” 

“Any idea of how that happened?” 

“Okay well you see, apparently the old version of me placed bombs around the train, so like, when we found the Heart of the WIld Cliff Express, Zombie Elrich and Delnys took the detonator an-” 

“Sorry, sorry. I’m going to stop you there.” Dad said. “Did you say…. Elrich?” 

“Yeah! Elrich Raethran! He’s a zombie now because my ex killed him but then his daughter brought him back to life and then he blew up the train.” 

Dad cursed under his breath. I’ve never seen him so… worked up before. 

“Elrich, you fuck…” dad said. “What did he blow up the train for?” 

“Oh, to destroy the Heart…” Integrity trailed off. “I think he said he wants to collect all the God stones or something from all the universes and, like… destroy them? And destroy all the universes?? … wait, you know Elrich.” 

Dad just sighed. “He was…. A good friend of mine, at one point.” 

“He was?” I was shocked. “You don’t seem to talk about him.” 

“Wait a second…” Integrity looked at dad and then looked at me and then looked at dad and then looked at me and then closed her eyes and then looked at dad and then looked at me. “Oh my god! You’re Trainven!” 

She was pointing at me?? Which such excitement and disbelief.I jumped up “I don’t know what that means??” 

“I didn’t expect you to be so small!” She said, smiling. “You’re like a kid!! That’s so weird!!” 

“Ms. Idleberry, if you may take a seat.” Dad’s voice was serious. He was usually a very serious man btu this was weird to see, even for me. He turned to face my direction. “Mara, I’m going to go find your mother. I might be gone for a bit. See it that these two are well taken care of. If they’re hungry, don’t be afraid to feed them my food. I’ve left you some blood. That should be enough for the next few days.” 

Integrity raised her hand. 

“Ms. Idleberry, this isn’t class.” Dad sighed. “But what is it?” 

“Sooo if your daughter is a vampire, are you a vampire too?” 

“No.” Dad said bluntly as he began 

She scrunched her face. “Oh. Why? Being a vampire sounds cool.”

“Because someone here needs to feed them.” Dad said nonchalantly as he walked into his room and came out with a backpack. “Jus tstay here and don’t get into trouble, okay?” 

“Okay dad.” I walked over and gave him a hug. “Love you.” 

“Love you too, Mara.” He released the hug and then looked over at Integrity. “Ms. Idleberry.” 

“See ya later, teach,” Integrity said, walking over to him, giving a salute. I just rolled my eyes. Dad walked through the door and before he could close it, Integrity took it and slammed the door. 

I facepalmed. “Why must you do that?” 

“I dunno…” 

Suddenly we heard a voice from the other room. 

“Oh geez…. Don’t… be so loud….” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ooh leave reviews if you wanna wish Artis luck on his quest!


	39. can love bloom on the battlefield?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I saw Alyssa and Michelle changed their relationship status… whatever… it’s fine… I’m over her anyway

I quickly walked over to the room. The small dragon looking boy was sitting up, rubbing his eyes. 

“Errrr did we land the plane safely??” he asked in slurred speech. 

I stood over him. “You crashed, so… I’m gonna say no.” 

He finished rubbing his eyes and he looked up at me and his jaw dropped. “Woaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah” 

This was really freakin weird. “Um, pardon? Everything okay?” 

“Yeah!” the boy yeleld. “Its just…. You’re so…. Pretttttttttty.” 

Oh god. No. No no. Nope. “Thanks?” 

“Yeah. Are you an angel?” 

“What?” 

“An angel! They’re the most beautiful thing in the universe!” 

“I, uh, what??” I rubbed my temples once more. Why was I stuck with these two? Why didn’t dad take me along? Then again idk if I can trust these strangers in our cave. 

“Wow….” he trailed off. “I’m Chieftan Ax! Chief of Lightmere! ” 

“Never heard of it.” I said matter of factly. 

“Oh… it’s a cool place! Lots of cool things! And I’m super powerful in it!” 

“That’s cool. I still have’nt heard of it.” 

“Aw….” Ax looked sad. I almost felt a bit sad for the kid. But then his face perked up. “Ah! Red face woman! Welcome!” 

I turned around to see Integirty standing in the doorway. “Hey squirt. You crashed the plane!” 

“Don’t call me squirt!” Ax said, looking at me and turning red. “You will address me as Chieftan and with respect.” 

“Okay, squirt.” I said. “Well I’ll just cut to the chase. Hi. You’re in Whatever, Isathill.” 

“AHA! I did get us to Isathill!” Ax jumped out of bed and raised his arms in the air in victory and I wanted to die. 

“Yeah, by CRASHING THE PLANE!” Integrity yelled. “I don’t even know where my friends are!” 

“Your friends?” Ax thought about it for a second. “Oh yeah… my betrothed.. Oh I hope she’s okay…” 

“Betrothed? You’re engaged?” I squinted. “Aren’t you, like, 7?” 

“I’m 11!” Ax said angrily but then he blushed again. “It doesn’t… bother you that I’m engaged, does it?” 

“I… I’m not sure why it would?” 

“Oh geez….” Ax paced around. “This has turned into a situation… quite a situation…” 

JUst then there was a knocking on the door. I turned quickly over to Integrity and Ax. “You two stay in here and don’t make a sound.” 

Integrity spoke up. “Bu-”

“YOU TWO STAY IN HERE AND DON’T MAKE A SOUND!” i yelled as loud as I could in a whisper tone before I gently closed the wooden door to the back room and looked through the peephole. 

Standing on the other side were three tall rock elementals, and a man I recognzied all too well: Inquisitor Yelm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no! I hope she’s okay!


	40. the blood of fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend…

Elrich knocked on the door over and over again. 

“Fidan, I know you’re in there!” he said in a loud voice. He was sweating and nervous. Fidan had been back for weeks and he hadn’t seen her once. Not at their mentor’s meetings, not in class, not even having fun with him and Artis and Teb. He was concerned, as a friend. 

There was silence from the other side of the cabin. Elrich knocked again. 

“Please… I don’t know what’s going on but please… talk to me…” 

He could hear some scuffling around from inside the cart on the other side of the door. He held his breath in, curious what would come next. Then the lock turned and the door creaked open slightly. 

“Elrich…” he heard her say. It was the first time he had heard her voice in months, since she had first left for Isathil. It was the sweetest noise he ever heard. 

“Fidan… Do you wanna let me in?” Elrich put on a smile. He didn’t feel like smiling, but he hoped it would comfort her. 

“You don’t…. I’m…. not feeling well…” her voice trailed off. 

“Well, in that case, I can help take care of you,” Elrich said. He paused for a moment. “Whatever it is, I’m going to find out eventually. Might as well let me know now.” 

There was a moment of silence and Elrich could feel his heart beat faster. Finally, Fidan creaked the door open slowly and stood there in the doorway, wrapped completely in a blanket. She looked just how he remembered. 

Except… 

Her skin. It was a lot…. Paler than normal. And when she looked up at him, she looked at him with deep, dark red eyes. 

“I’m…. sorry…” she said, and as she spoke, elrich could notice the fangs in her mouth. 

“Oh god.” Elrich instantly regretted saying that but he couldn’t help himself. He never conisdered… this…. To be a possibility. 

“Come on in. I can explain everything,” she said. She stepped aside so that Elrich could enter and then closed the door behind him. 

“Yeah. Yeah. Say, why don’t I make some coffee?” Elrich asked as he tossed his coat on the couch. 

“I… can’t have coffee anymore.” Fidan looked down on the ground sadly. 

“Oh.” Elrich walked over to the coffee maker. He cracked a smile. “Well I guess you won’t be needing this anymore, will you?” 

She couldn’t help but laugh. He liked that. He was glad he could give her something of a smile. He got out a mug and brewed some joe and then put it into the mug and then sat down on the couch, next to her. 

“Who all knows?” he asked, holding his mug tightly. 

“From here? Um….” She rubbed her temples in thought. “Underbough. Artis. And you, now, I guess.” 

“I see.” He took another sip and set it down on the coffee. “How…. how did it…? If you don’t mind talking about it, that is!” 

She took a deep sigh. She could see her eyes water up. Poor girl. “It was... when I was in Isathill… everything was going great, we were doing our investigations and studies and projects and what not and I was really enjoying myself. And then… there was an explosion.” 

“An explosion?” 

“Yes. Some form of rebellion. Something about the Earth elementals. Some young swingers named Corka and Yona?? I don’t know, but they attacked the kingdoms of Patter and Pitter and it was… chaos… pure chaos…” 

“Oh geez. Did… did it affect…?” 

“The cart we were traveling on was attacked by the rock soldiers…. Everyone else managed to flee…” 

“Everyone… else?” 

Fidan put her hand over her heart. “I was impaled. On a spear. The soldier who did it... Said it wasn’t personal. Said it was part of the ‘No Bllood’ initiative.” 

Elrich could feel his eyes watering up, just thinking about the sight. “Oh my god… Fidan…”

“It’s okay… there was hope….” She wiped her eyes a bit. “We were in between both Pitter and Patter, and there were this… tribe… of vampires. Including this one girl, Luna God Spell. She took me off the spear. Recovered my body. To be honest, originally she was just going to feed off me… but then she didn’t… and instead, she decided to save my life by….”

“By turning you?” 

She nodded. “She bit into my neck and had me bite into hers and we shared blood. Said it was a ritual. Said we’re basically sisters now.” 

“Jesus… I’m…. fuck…” 

“I stayed there for a bit, in a cave with her and the other vampires. The early days of the turning were… tough. Just really fucking tough.” 

Elrich thought about it. “I can only imagine...I mean, it’s like basically being undead right?” 

“Something like that. Thankfully they were really nice. Kept me in with open arms. And I stayed with them for about a month until finally I heard Professor Klempt outside of the cave… and he helped me get back here.” 

Elrich grabbed her hand. It was cold. “Fidan. I’m… I’m so sorry.” 

“Thank you.” She released her hand to wipe a tear away from her eye again. “I mean, it’s not so bad. Basically the same. Just… can’t eat anything that’s not blood anymore. And can’t be outside much.” 

“Well. There goes our plans for a beach episode.” He smiled. 

She laughed again. A light one, but a good one nevertheless. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. “I hope you know this doesn’t change anything. You’re still Fidan to me. Always.”

“Thank you. So much.” She squeeezed him even tighter and the two held it like that. Embraced. Slowly, they both released, their arms still touching each other. He looked at her in the eyes and she looked back. There was a moment, frozen in time. She leaned in. So did he. He slowly moved his mouth closer to hers. 

But she moved a bit, her head turning, her mouth open, reaching closer and closer towards his neck. She closed her eyes. 

And then she screamed. ANd pushed him away. 

“FUCK!” she yelled. “FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.” 

“Hey hey!” Elrich scooted back over to her. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s fine.” 

“No it’s not!! It’s not! Fuck, I almost hurt you!” she cried. “Fuck fuck fuck this is why I can’t be around others right now. I have to learn how to control it. I have to… I have to…” 

“Well.” Elrich gave a light cough. “You’ll never learn how if you’re not around people. I can still stop by, if you want. We can hang out. Until you’re ready to go to class again and parties and what not.” 

“Yeah…” Fidan smiled. “That would be nice… I just hope I’m better by Traincoming.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Elrich said. His heart flew with butterflies. He wasn’t sure if this was his chance or not, but he couldn’t let the moment pass him by. “You, uh, going with anyone yet?” 

“Hm? Oh yeah, Artis already asked me.” 

“Oh.” 

Elrich just sorta sat there. 

“Yeah! Should be fun.” Fidan smiled. “What about you? Who do you think you’re going with?” 

He furrowed his brow. “I’m… not sure…” 

“Well what about that blonde hair girl in your necromancy class? She seemed pretty into you.” 

“Yeah…” Elrich said. “Maybe I’ll ask her.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad Fidan survived and is a vampire now


	41. some more info

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I left Alec on read. I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

“So let me get this straight,” I said as I had another bite of my gummies. “You have a daughter in Whatever named Mara?” 

“Yeah.” FIdan rolled her eyes. “Are you that surprised?” 

“Not really,” I said, taking another bite. “Just, y’know, fuckin weird to think about, there being a Trainven.” 

“Why do you keep calling my daughter that?” Fidan asked. “It’s super weird.” 

“Oh right!” Mira exclaimed. “It’s because in our universe, her name is Raven.” 

“And I’m her mother still?” Fidan asked. 

I looked over at Mira. “Y’know, actually, we don’t know. We never really pressed on it.” 

“All I know is that Elrich is the father in both universes,” Mira said. 

“And why don’t you just ask him?” Fidan took a sip of blood from her cup. 

“Oh, yeah, that’s because our Elrich is dead.” I finsihed my bag of gummies and crumpled them up and put them on the table. ‘Yeah, I killed him.” 

“You killed him?” Fidan’s eyes narrowed. 

“Yeah. That one wasn’t evil or anything, I was just… going through a rough phase of my life at the time.” 

“She’s gotten better! I swear!” Mira exclaimed. 

FIdan rolled her eyes. “I don’t doubt it. Look, okay, I get what you’re saying. But I’m not sure why this involves me. So my ex goes crazy, becomes undead, blows up a train, wants to destroy the universes. Like, it sucks, but I’m not sure what I can do about it.” 

“Well…” I began to say but then Mira interrupted me. 

“Neither of us know this Elrich that well! And we don’t know where he is or what he would plan to do! So we were hoping, like, y’know, you’d be able to help us out and stuff. And figure out where he would try to go to first.” 

“So you can kill my ex?” she finished off her cup of blood. 

“Yeah!” Mira said. 

“Uh, more blood sis?” Luna said as she grabbed the cup from Fidan and the gummy wrapper off the table. 

“Please,” Fidan said and then she looked at us. “Look, I don’t know fully what’s going on. I haven’t spoken to Elrich in 13 years when I got off of the train. How would I know anything about his whereabouts?” 

I spoke up. “In our defense, we’re totally fucking clueless.” 

“Valid.” Fidan gave a light chuckle. “Well, good riddance to The WIld Cliff Express, though. THat place was a total fucking shithole the whole time.” 

“Big agree,” I said. “Just the fucking worst.” 

“Yeah for real,” Mira took a sip of her milk and wiped off her milk mustache. “What was it like when you were there?” 

Fidan huffed and sat back. “Stuffy and bougie.” 

“Oh so about the same as it is now?” I smiled. 

“Guess so. Still. It wasn’t the worst. It helped that I had the best friends there. Never underestimate the importance of having a good group.” 

“Agreed!” Mira smiled. 

“Uh yeah totally for sure!” I said. 

Fidan continued on. “I mean, everything was super great for us until Teb found out that I went to Isathil. Then that was… a weird saga.” 

“Teb?” I asked. 

“Teb?” Luna said, returning with blood. “Have you ever talked about a Teb before?” 

“God, I try not to.” Fidan rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what happened. He was so… cool at one point in time. Shy and nerdy and small but cool.” 

“Oh I have one of those!” Mira said. 

Fidan continued. “But then things got… weird. But Teb didn’t ever tell me much about that. I think he felt more comfortable talking to Elrich.” 

Something about that struck me as weird. “Teb and Elrich were close?” 

“I guess, yeah. It was like they had some… secret between them. It was right before Teb went all weirdo and started, like, getting obsessed with finding the Heart and pressing me all the time about my field trip in Isathill. .” 

I looked over at Mira. I wasn’t sure if she was thinking the same thing I was. “Do you know where Teb is now?” 

She gave a huff. “Dunno. I do know he was obssesed with Isathill. Just wouldn’t stop asking me questions about it and Patter and Pitter and Corka and honestly it was really annoying.” 

I slammed the table and stood up. “Motherfucker!” I yelled. 

“Language!” Luna said. “Please!” 

“Sorry!” Mira told her and then looked at me. “What is it, Veronica?” 

“We spent all this time thinking that Elrich would go after Fidan. It didn’t occur to us that he might have been focused on somebody else.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh interesting. Leave a review if you think you know where Elrich is


	42. a cold reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I said I would be his girlfriend

Teb put on his long coat and adjusted it accordingly. Being as short as he was, he needed to do what he could to compensate and still make himself look intimidating and cool. It was something it took a while to learn but he was glad he finally did. 

He could feel the other one’s presence in the room. 

“I was wondering when you’d show up here,” he said, turning around. 

Standing in front of him was a familar yet different figure. He could see the spots in his face where his old friend once was. He was older too. Also bluer, his skin pale. His eyeball was slightly loose in its socket and he stood over slightly hunched. His once normal eyes glowed a deep, unnatural, unnerving blue. 

“Tebethy, “Elrich said. “It’s great to see you again.” 

“I wish I could say the same to you.” 

“You look like shit,” Elrich said, eyeing his friend’s one eyeball. 

“You’re one to talk. Everything going okay, buddy?” Teb said with a combination of snark and sincirity. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I feel better than ever,” Elrich said calmly. He walked around. “Grand castle. Good job for you.” 

“Cut the bullshit, Raethran!” Teb yelled. “I don’t have time for reunions! I have to job to do in Pitter and I need to leave as soon as I can.” 

“Oh Teb. I know what you’re doing.” Elrich paced around the nothic, looking down on him. “I know all about what you’re doing. You’re mad because I found it before you, aren’t you?” 

“What??” Teb yelled, his voice slurring in anger. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” 

Elrich kept walking calmly. “Yes you do. The Heart. Tell me, does seeing me remind me of your failure?” 

“Suck my dick, Elrich.” 

“I thought Corka was doing that already.” Elrich gave a smile and then Teb gave a smile but then he frowned again. 

“What is it you want, Elrich? All this time you could’ve come here, you could’ve….” Before Teb could finish, Elrich disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared right next to Teb. He grabbed Teb’s wrist, pulled up the sleeve of the coat, and flipped his arm over, exposing the S tattoo on his wrist. 

“I see,” Elrich whispered. “So you do still have it.” 

“Have what??” Teb pulled himself away. He rolled his sleeve back down. “And don’t touch a Grand Inquisitor, you… fucking bard.” 

“Your deal. With Seltie. You know all about all the God objects still, don’t you?” 

“I….” Teb stared off into space, licking his lips. “How could I forget?” 

“Good. Then I think we can have a mutually beneficial relationship here.” Elrich sat down. 

“What’re you talking about?” Teb’s eye narrowed. 

“You wanna find all the God objects. I wanna find all the God objects. So why not combine forces. Your knowlege, my skills.” 

“Why would i even NEED you?” Teb said. “I’m the one with the info. Plus, as you can see, I already have a good gig going on.” 

“I do see that. The Earth Angel. Impressive. And you’re so close to getting it.” Elrich stood up and put his hand on Teb’s shoulder. “But when you do, what then? Is that going to be enough? Where do you go from there?” 

“I…” Teb thought about it. 

“I know you. You don’t just want one, do you? Otherwise you would’ve just asked for one. Why have just one when you could have them all?” 

  
Teb licked his lips. “Yeah… hey wait! You never wanted to help me before! What gives? Why now?” 

Elrich just smiled. “I guess you can say I’ve had a change of Heart.” 

Teb couldn’t help but chuckle. “Okay. Fine. I’ll go to Pitter, retrieve the Earth Angel. Then, once that’s taken care of and we have it and cut the loose ends, we can go find the rest.” 

Elrich held out his hand. “It’s going to be a pleasure to work with you, old friend.” 

Teb smiled and shook his hand. “Same to you, old friend.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aww glad to see friends reunite! Leave a review if you’re excited about the reunion!


	43. full life consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Happy May the 4th everyone!

“Punishment, there must be.” 

“But all I did was committ a little murder!” I yelled. This is totally unfair. Like, yeah, i broke the rules of the dual, but this was WILD SITH. murder is supposed to happen all the time plus he was clearly attacking me plus he spit on me, so like, of course

Chancellor Underbough just paced back and forth. “Murder, you did, yes. Quite ethical, murder is. But breaking sith code, ethical it is not.” 

“I don’t understand!” I yelled. 

Darthis rubbed his temples. “You broke the rules of the duel, Raven. It’s not about how you murdered Murderdeen. Nobody cares about Murderdeen. But breaking the explicit instructions of your sith supoeriors is a direct violation of everything we stand for. Being a sith is about following the orders and following the rules to bring glory to your empire.” 

“Okay, but like, have you considered that cool ass flip swing i did?” 

“That’s not iomportant Raven!” Darthis was scary when he got mad. I didn’t know what to do. I could feel myself shrinking in my chair. 

“Consequences like this, there must be,” Underbough repeated again. 

“Okay, fine. What are the stupid consequences?” I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms and pouted. 

“Manual labor, obviously. “Darthis said. 

“Yes yes. Custodial work veyr much needed. Raven will do well for that.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Okay fine. Commit a litle bit of murder, mop some floors. Okay cool. Fine. I can do that.” 

“Banned from classes and mentoring she will be, also.” Underbough rubbed his chin. 

“Agreed. I don’t want to teach her anyways,” Darthis said, looking at me with a sneer. 

“Okay fine, I get a spring break from class. That’s fine.” I said, smiling. 

“And,” Underbough continued. “Banned from participating in finals, she must be.” 

“WHAT!!?” i yelled. Tbh i don’t know why i was so upset. Participating in fianls meant that I was more than likely going to be killed. But, like… it’s also the true way to become a sith lord. And that’s what this is all about!! Becoming a sith lord!! 

“Yes that seems right…” Darthis nodded. “If she cannot follow sith instructions, then why should she participate with Sith rituals?” 

“Besides,” Underbough added. “5 members your group has, does it not?” 

Darthis rubbed his chin. “Yeah. We’re already one above our limit. I was afraid we were going to have to make a cut. We can spare one member.” 

“BUT BUT BUT!!” i yelled. “This isn’t fair!! I’m here for a purpose! ANd if I don’t train and pass Finals then there’s no way I’m going to achieve it!” 

“Should’ve thought about that before you chopped a boy’s head off,’ Darthis said. 

“Yes, very. Look forward to you beginning your service, I am.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no! Poor Raven. Leave a review if you wanna see Raven participate in finals!


	44. custodial duties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: it’s just nice to ge tthat text from alec that says “i love you”

Hi my name is Raven WIllow Blood Charm and I’m 17 years old. I’m a vampire and sith lord in training. I go to a school, but not a lame one.It’s a sith school for sith. Well okay, it would be not lame if I wasn’t stuck BEING A FUCKING JANITOR! 

I emptied out the trash can in the hallway. Gone was my sweet ass black corset and thigh high boots and robes. Instead i was wearing this ugly gray uniform with really stiff shoulders that totally didn’t make me look cute. Ughh this sucks. 

I’ve been doing this for a week now and it’s so hard. DO you know how hard it is to mop floors when you have a hook for a hand? Do you?? You can’t hold the mop properly, it just keeps falling ove rand then I fall over to the floor and cry and then I have to mop my tears up again 

Thankfully today I didn’t have to mop[. I just had to take out the trash. I was palcing the trash bag out of the can and into my giant trash bag cart and placing a new bag when someone threw a bottle of blue milk at my head and it spilled all over my uniform. 

“Oops!” Arrow Allaro said. “Sorry, I missed!” and then he laughed over and over again. And I could recognize one of the laughs. 

She walked up to me, her hair still in its three buns, her face still with a sneer. “Well well, if it isn’t little Ms. Blood Charm.” 

“Leave me alone, Reyvan…” I said, using a napkin from the trash to wipe the blue milk off of me. 

Reyvan just laughed. “Saw what you did in the duel. You think it’s imprressive to behead a person? What’s impressive is knowing enough restraint to make them hurt without murder.” 

“Yeah well I’m gonna murder you,” I said, pouting. 

“Oh really? When? In Finals? Oh that’s right! Your’e not going to finals!” she laughed maniacally and her friends, Arrow Allaro and Hurt Orlaine and Bailey Blue laughed too. “Tell me, when you killed Murderdeen, did you think this is where you’d be HEADing?” 

“Oh good one!” Hurt said. 

“Thank you, it’s a pun.” Reyven smiled. 

“Please just leave me alone... “ i looked down on the ground. Don’t cry in front of her, Raven. Don’t give her the satisfaction. A true sith lord does’nt cry. That’s some bitch ass shit. 

Instead, i finished putting in the new trash bag and pushed the cart forward. I could hear them laughing behind me. Whatever, Raven. They don’t matter. Just think about stopping Clone Raven and remember that it’ll all be worth it. 

Finally done getting the trash from the hallways, I was able to do the next part: getting the trash out of the dorms. This was a mostly boring procedure. Most people had very bland dorms or they were interesting but I just didn’t care about them. I couldn’t get into Reyvan’s dorm, because she had a specialtiy door with a lock on it. But whatever. 

I couldn’t help but snoop around, though…. 

I mean, wouldn’t you?? Shit is boring! Gotta do stuff to keep you interested. Like when I was in Mi’ra’s dorm, I saw a letter on her desk she had begun to write but scribbled out t osomeone named “Darkness Raethran.” 

Iniquity’s dorm was full of a bunch of stuffed animals, some living and screaming and other inanimate and rolling around everywhere. 

Finally I went to Severepth’s room. I picked up her little trash can which was full of pill bottles and crumpled up notes when I saw something sticking out of her dresser drawer, keeping it from clsoing. 

Well. Why not check it out? 

I walked over and pulled it out. It was a weird triangle thing that glowed blue. I think we talked about these in class. It’s a… holocron?? 

I opened the drawer more and saw something else. Something silver and shiny. I pulled it out and held it up. There was no doubt about it. It was a lightsaber. I pressed the button on the handle and a light blue blade shot upand illuminated my face. 

“I was wondering if you would find out…” I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Severepth standing there, arms crossed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no!! What could this mean? Read on to find out!


	45. the light side is blinding our eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i just want one feeling of hpapiness. Can’t i have that? Don’t i deserve it?

“Severepth, what is this?” I said, retracting the blue lightsaber blade back into the hilt. 

“I can explain everythign!” she said, shutting the door behind her. 

“Are you a… a Jedi?? I yelled quietly and she shusshed me. 

“Shhh. You have to keep this on the downlow.” She looked around and behind her shoulders. “I think you of all people would understand.” 

“I… don’t… no!” i said. I don’t understand! She was a jedi! ANd jedi are the bad guys! 

“Wild Sith… the SIth in general.. It’s corrupt! It thrives off evil and hatred! THe force isn’t meant to be used this way, it’s not something to be utilized so selfishly! Devotion to the Sith teachings are going to do nothing but get us all killed!” 

I felt the blue saber go limp in my hands. “I… I don’t…” 

“You know this, don’t you? I’m sure you’ve noticed it. You’re not like the other girls here, Raven. The only thing the sith do is spread malice and hate and destruction. They’re tearing the universe apart for their own personal gain. And I can’t let that happen! It’s not right!” 

“I….” I couldn’t think of what to say. I mean, she had a point. Sith lords did seem pretty evil and i’m not evil so I’m not like other sith lords. But I also knew my adopted father and he seemed like a pretty good dude. I mean, without him, we wouldn’t have won the Clone Wars! 

Severpth paced around the room. “I’m trying to do what I can. I keep up the front. I go to classes. Participate in SIth activiites, to an extant. I sense good in you, Raven. Just as I sense it in Mi’ra and Iniquity and Winslayer. I think that, if given different circumstances… they can be good people. they can help me rebuild the school. Make Wild Sith into a better place. Restore balance to the force.” 

Severpth held out her hand. “You can make the right choice, Raven. You can help me. You can be a good person. You can help us win finals and then do what we can afterwards to take down the Chancellor. Look into your heart. You know the answer.” 

I looked at her hand. She was right. I could help them win finals. 

I walked over to her and grabbed her hand. She smiled at me and I smiled back. And then I unsheathed the lightsaber and the blue beam of light went through her chest. 

We are always connected to the force, sure, but htere are absolutely moments where you feel more in tune with it in others. And in that moment, as the shock hit Severepth’s face and her eyes went wide, I could feel the force scream, shatter and break. And I could feel it accumulate in myself.

I retracted the blade and the body fell back down to the ground, still. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:: RIP Severpth


	46. i sense a plot to destroy the jedi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i can be mason and still be his girlfriend. I can be mason and still be his girlfirne.d i can be mason and still be his girlfriend. Ic an be mason and still be his girlfriend. I can be mason and still be his girlfirne. I can be mason and still be his girlreand

I threw the body of Severpth onto Underbough’s desk. I smiled “What do you think about that, boys?” 

Darthis just looked at it for a moment. “I think that you killed another student.”

“Not just any other student!” I said smugly. “Severepth was a traitor, intent to destroy Wild Sith and the Sith as we know it.” 

Underbough huffed. “A dangerous propsition indeed, if true.” 

I threw the lightsaber on the desk. Underbough grabbed it, unsheathed the blade, saw the blue saber and flinched. 

“I found that in Severepth’s room and she admitted it was hers.” I grabbed the holocron out of my pocket and placed it on the table. “Additionally, I also found this.” 

I activated the holocron and the triangle opened up and the blue hologram of a man with black hair and a beard in white robes appeared. 

“Severepth, it’s your father. Mother told me to contact you and keep you updated. The jedi are safe on Arch-To with me. The numbers are stil quite small, but…. We’re doing what we can. I hope your recon mission is going sucessful. It makes me nervous, having you around the sith… But I have faith in you and faith in the force. I know that together, we can win this and the light will prevail. I love you so much. May the force be with you.” 

And with that, the transmission ended and the holocron went away. Underbough sat back in his chair and twiddled around a bit. Darthis rubbed his temples. 

“True, this appears to be.” Underbough said. 

“Yes…. yes it does….” Darthis picked up the blue saber. “How... disappointing.” 

“A failure, I knew she was. To the extend, I did not know.” Underbough shook his head. “Much gratitidue I have for you, Raven, for bringing us this information.” 

“It’s not a problem,” I smiled. “Though… I do believe I deserve a reward in return…” 

“A reward, you say?” Underoubh sat forward. 

“Welllll,” I leaned forward and placed my hands under my chin. “It does appear like Darthis’ group is down a member.” 

Darthis sighed. ‘FUck. Yeah. Yeah we are.” 

Underbough stroked his chin in thot. “Correct, you are. Picking up what you are putting down, I am.” 

He looked over at Darthis, who sighed and huffed. “Yes, Raven. Because of your work on saving With Sith, you will be allowed back in The Black Parade.” 

FUCK YES!!! This was amazing!! FInally, everything was coming up Raven. 

  
But wait…. 

“Does that also mean…?” 

“Yes.” Underbough interrupted. “Participate in finals, you will.” 

“HELL FUCKING YES!!” I cheered and then I rushed over to give Darthis a hug but then he pushed me away. 

“No.” he said. 

“Oh….” I stepped back. “Sorry….” 

“Go now, you must.” Underbough said. “Behind on training, you are. Coming soon, Finals are.” 

“Yes Mr. Chancellor sir!” I said with a bow. “You bet your ass I’m going to kick some ass! Peace, fuckers!” 

I started to walk out of the room when I felt something whack me on the back of my head. I screamed and rubbed my head and looked down at the ground to see the blue lightsaber. I turned around and looked at Darthis. 

“It’ll make a fine addition to your collection,” he smiled. 

I smiled back and walked out of the room. Going down the hallway, I clipped the lightsaber on my belt, next to my adopted father’s red one. And then… soemthing weird happened… 

I remembered Severepth’s face. That feeling. My chest hurt. It was like… I was feeling the force break all over again… that severeness… It all came back… and I felt… bad??? 

But then it was over and I smiled. Oh well, no time to dwell on it. Time to go back to my dorm and start prepping for finals! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave reviews if you're happy raven will get to do finals after all!


	47. we gotta get out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m just glad finals are soon and then i can be done with school for a while

I continued to pace back and forth. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fucksticks. 

Okay. Breathe, Veronica. Breathe. Okay. Good. So. 

We gotta find Elrich who is probably somewhere here, more than likely, wherever Teb is. Okay. And Teb is more likely here. Okay okay. So I just gotta find Teb, who more than likely would be in patter or wahtever because… no offense to pitter, but why the fuck would he come here? It’s a shithole. 

“Is she always like that?” Fidan asked mira, pointing over to me. 

“Haha, yeah… She’s a very… intense person…” Mira looked down. 

“What about you? Tell me a bit about yourself,” Fidan smiled. “You said you knew my husband, correct?” 

“Yeah! He was our mentor!” She looked down a bit. “Well, was.” 

“I see.” FIdan nodded and leaned back in her chair. “And you went to a version of Wild Cliff too?” 

“Yeah. Except it wasn’t on a train.” 

“That’s super weird,” Fidan said. “And kinda lame.” 

“Right?? That’s what I’ve been saying!” 

Fidan gave a light grin again. “So what did you study?” 

“Hm?” 

“At Wild Cliff. What did you study?” 

“Oh, um. I’m a bard.” Mira said, a nervous tone in her voice. 

“Oh interesting. My husband is a bard.” Fidan looked wistfully into the sky, as if thinking about moments long ago. “Tell me, do you still play?” 

“Yeah! I mean, when I can. I have my lyre with me in my bag.” 

“Then play.” 

Mira’s eyes grew wide. “What??” 

“What do you mean ‘What?’ You’re a bard, aren’t you? So play something.” 

Mira gulped and nervously reached into her bag and pulled out her lyre. She rested it in her hands. “So, uh, what do you want me to play?” 

Fidan closed her eyes. “Whatever your heart feels like playing.” 

Mira gave a long huff and began strumming the strings. “ _ Today is gonna be th-”  _

“That’s shit.” Fidan interrupted. “That one sucks. Do another one.” 

Mira shivvered and mumbled a slight okay and thought for a second. She began playing a song I kidna recognzied from traincoming. Earth Angel I think it was called? 

Fidan interrupted once more. “Eh, no, I feel like I’ve heard that one too much. Don’t you have anything original? Anything exciting? Give me something from your universe.” 

“O-okay,” Mira gulped. I’ve never seen her this nervous before. Why? We were just playing in a room for a total fucking stranger. Plus she’s amazing so I know she’s going to play this well regardless. 

She closed her eyes and began strumming a simple pattern. It was beautiful. It was poetic. It was melancholic. It was-

“Where’d you learn that melody?” Fidan interrupted, sitting up. 

“Huh?” Mira stopped playing. “Oh, uh… my old music professor, Elrich, the one from my universe, he taught it to me.” 

Fidan just smiled. “That’s the song my Artis wrote for me when we were kids.” 

“Huh…” Mira scratched her head. “I guess… our Elrich knew it too….” 

“Universal constants….” Fidan muttered under her breath. She closed her eyes and waved her hands around. “Keep playing, girl. Keep playing.” And so she did. 

I have to admit, the song gave me a nice bit of music to think about as I paced back and forward. God, thinking was so hard. There had to be a solution somehow. There had to be a way to do this. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Mira stopped playing. Luna jumped up. 

“Sis, you gotta go upstairs!” she said. 

“Oh come on,” Fidan rolled her eyes. “It’s just me.” 

“We don’t know who it is!” luna whispered. “If they find that you snuck in here, who knows what’ll happen?” 

Fidan huffed. “Fine. I’ll go upstairs then.” 

“WAIT!” luna went to chase after her but she was already up there and then the front door opened. THe familiar older elemental woman walked in, a smile on her face. 

“Ah, Luna, good to see you,” Yona said, giving a light bow. “I do hope you have been treating our newcomers well?” 

“Lord Yona! What a pleasant surprise!” Luna said, nervously laughing. “What brings you here at such an hour?” 

“Well, I heard through Mr. Maisel that our two new arrivals went home with you after the show and I just wanted to make sure they were okay.” She turned to us, a kind grandmotherly look on her face. “Are you okay, girls?”

“Yes! Very okay!” Mira said, doing that thing she does with her voice when she’s obviously lying. But I guess Yona didn’t realize it. 

“Oh, bless the Lord Jesus, I’m glad to hear that!” Yona chuckeld. 

“There is one thing though…” I walked over to her and looked up. 

“Oh? And what is that, my dear?” 

“We need to leave Pitter. I have it under good authority that the fate of the world is at sta-” 

“Let me get one thing through to you, girls.” Her eyes narrowed and a certain harshness crept into her voice, one I had never heard before. “No one leaves Pitter. Ever.” 

“But wait!” Mira jumped out of her seat and walked over to me. “That’s not fair! We’re not from here! We have a life outside of Pitter that we need to get to!” 

“Well, rest assured, Ms. Machund, that Pitter is more than welcome to help you accommedate and start a new life here.” She smiled at Mira, but it was a harsher one. “Pitter is a closed community. No one in. No one out. It’s safer that way.” 

“You realize that’s complete and total fucking bullshit, right, Ms. Yona?” I said through gritted teeth. 

“Do you have an issue with that, child?” Yona towered over me and looked me straight in the eyes. I stared back, not falling for this shit. She can go fuck herself. Try to scare me? Bitch, I destroyed a whole fucking universe. What’s one fucking tall elemental woman got on me? 

I spat on her face. “No. No I don’t.” 

She sighed and pulled out a tissue from her back pocket and rubbed her face. “You’re allowed that one infraction, child. But I am not one to go down so easily. Rude behavior will not get you out of here any sooner.” 

“I know.” I smiled. “I just spat on you for fun.” 

She stepped away and towards the door. “Have a good night, Ms. God Smell. And may the Lord Jesus bless you.” 

She stepped out and there was a moment of heavy tension in the room. As if we were all trying to figure out our own frustrations or fears. I wanted to slap that bitch, but thankfully I’m a good person these days and wouldn’t do something like that (and also slapping a rock might break my hand) 

We heard steps coming down the stairs. Luna turned around. “Sis! It’s safe now!” 

But as we turned, we saw a scowl of anger on her face. The only time I had ever seen Fidan that angry is when she was trying to kill us. “Luna. You have some explaining to do.” 

She stepped aside and we could see that behind her was Sapphire. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh geez, lots of stuff happened. Leave reviews


	48. we argue a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec came over to my animal crossing island and wondered why i wasn’t using my real name for my villager

“WHAT THE HELL, LUNA?” Fidan yelled at the top of her lungs. 

“SHhhhhh” Luna said. “You’re going to attract attention back here.” 

“No. No no no no. This is not a thing to be quiet about, Luna!” Fidan pointed at Sapphire, who was sitting in a seat at the dinner table, her face a blank slate. “What makes you think that this is okay to do?” 

“It’s fine!!” Luna yelled back, her voice finally rising. “Really! It’s fine! I was offered the chance to save her and i took it!” 

“This ISN”T saving her!” Fidan yelled even louder than before, slamming on the table. “You’re torturing her out of your own selfishness!” 

“I did what I could to save her!” Luna started tearing up. “I’ve done that before. You of all people should know that!” 

Fidan let out a large UGH in frustration and rolled her eyes. “Don’t turn this against me! Don’t even start!” 

“You don’t know how it feels, Fidan! You don’t know what it’s like! You would do the same if Mara was killed, wouldn’t you?” 

Fidan walked over and pushed Luna down to the ground. “How DARE you bring her into this.” 

I looked over at Mira. She looked just as fucking awkward and uncomfortable as I was. I whsipered to her. “Should we… should we be here for this?” 

“I don’t know!!” she loudly and nervously whispered back to me. 

Fidan just sighed and held out her arm, helping Luna back up. “Sorry about that…” 

“It’s okay…” Luna said, taking her hand and rising back up. She dusted herself off. 

There was a moment of silence before Fidan spoke up again. “How did you do it?” 

Luna huffed. Tears filled her eyes. “I found out about her from the play. At first i thought she was a fictional character, just like I thought everyone else was. And then… after Sapphire… y’know…. I was talking to Phillip about it and crying in his arms and he told me about… the deal he had made…” She rolled up her sleeve and showed off the S branding on her wrist. “Well, he helped me figure out how to get in contact with her. Then after one simple deal… she was back to me.” 

Fidan held her sisters wrist and pulled it up closer to her face. “Was it worth it?” 

“Every extra moment I get with her is worth it…” Luna answered softly. 

It was clear who they were talking about. Seltie. That bitch. Only a fucking idiot would make a deal with her. Okay, well, Mira did once and she’s not an idiot. Also I’m not salty that she wouldn’t take MY soul. Telling me I didn’t have a soul, who the fuck does she think she is? 

“Hey, um, I’m just gonna go upstairs” I said. “I think you two could use a moment. There’s a bathroom up there, right? I’m going to use the bathroom.” 

I turned to Mira, expecting her to go with me. INstead she just sat there, looking at her own wrist. Oh. I get it. I’ll let her have her moment. 

I walked upstairs. Geez, this place looked so shitty. Like I was impressed a shack like this could even handle a second floor, but it wasn’t impressive. Just a big mattress pad on the floor, a small mirror, a stack of acting books and a door to the bathroom. 

I sighed and laid down on the mattress bed. I could hear the sounds of arguing downstairs but I didn’t want to focus on it. I had enough to think about, just worrying how I would get out of Pitter. Because there’s no way in hell that I’m staying here. Even if it means blowing up all of Pitter, I will leave. 

Suddenly I felt a weight on my chest. Four tiny little weights. What the hell? I opened my eyes to see a familiar, somehow even grayer cat. 

“OH THANK GOD VERONICA!” macavity yelled. “I’M SO GLAD I FINALLY FOUND YOU!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh he’s back! Leave a review if you’re surprised Macavity is back!


	49. a visitor returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Some nights i can’t help but think of how she held me

“Macavity you motherfucker!” I said, rolling my eyes. “Sorry but I don’t have time for your hijinks right now!” 

“NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Macavity yelled, his voice cracking. “I need your help! I need your help!” 

“Oh I’m sorry,” I smiled. “But I thought you were still a major threat to me? “

“What?? Oh, that!” he shivvered and shook. I instinctly began petting him and his furr stuck up a bit before he settled down into my lap. “Ahhh water under the bridge now! I mean, i’m still threatening but-” 

“But you need my help?” i gave him a sly grin and began scratching under his mouth. “Oh you poor baby. Are you scared??” 

He purred but then shook his head. “Stop patronizing me with your… human forms of affection!! This is a very serious matter and a very affront to the nature and being of Macavity!” 

“I see, I see.” I thought about it for a second. Well, so long as he wasn’t threatening to kill me or take my soul or whatever. Why not hear him out? Not like I had anything to really fear from him. “Okay, what gives, Napoleon?” 

He stomped his paws in nervously. “Okay, so, i have someone around, trying to kill me.” 

“Someone?” 

“Yes!! She keeps following me around everywhere!” 

“I see. And why don’t you just kill her or do your soul stuff or whatever it is you do?” 

“Do you think I haven’t been trying?? She’s too powerful. And worse off, every time I flee, she follows me. It’s like she has some… supernatural knoweldge of where I am. I mean, fuck, she might even follow me here in a few minutes if I don’t leave on time.” 

“I see. And who is this mystery woman?” 

“You know her!” he yelled. “That blonde woman! She was with you at the heart!” 

Wait. Wait wait wait. He couldn’t be talking about… “Delnys?” 

“Was that her name? Fuck, I guess so. I don’t remember. I just keep calling her ‘that blonde chick in black who keeps trying to kill me.’” 

I thoguth about it for a second. “So wait, what you’re saying is that I can use you as bait to get Delnys to come to us?” 

Macavity gulped. “Wait, no! I don’t want her here! Please! You ahve to stop her!” 

“Uh-huh, okay. Look, I’ll help you out, but not in the way you th-” 

Suddenly there was a knock on the door downstairs. Macavity jumped up. “OH SHIT THAT’S HER!” And hten he yelled out a MEOW and then he poofed away. 

I walked nervously downstairs. Everyone else was silent too. Luna started pushing for Sapphire and Fidan to go up the stairs but I stopped them. 

“Don’t worry, you all. I know who it is.” I walked over and opened the door. 

But instead of a blonde haired woman, there was a small trembling nothic man. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no!!


	50. a reunion for some

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Apparently her condition is only getting worse

“S-sorry…” the small nothic man said trembling. “P-please can I come in?” 

Behind us, Sapphire made a noise. She began crying loudly, louder than i’ve ever heard her cry, and she began pointing. Tears flowed down her face as she pointed at the nothic. 

The nothic looked at her. Then looked at the table. And then looked at the address on the house. “Oh motherfucker, is this realy the same place? Oh goddamn. Fuck it all. What are the odds?” 

He squinted his eye around at us all, us just looking at him, weirded out. Finally his eye settled on Fidan and his eye just got wide. “F-Fidan? Is that you??” 

She looked at him, a bit weirded out and concerned. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” 

Luna looked at her crying and wailing daughter and looked at the nothic and it looked like the gears in her head began turning. Then she jumped into the air, over us, and pounced on top of him and began scratching him with her hands. 

“YOU. MOTHER. FUCKER. HOW. FUCKING. DARE. YOU!” She scratched him over and over again repeatedly, making deep sharp cuts on himself. He just stayed there, taking the beating in, until he reached to his side and grabbed a handful of dirt from the crop garden. He threw it in Luna’s face, who immediately retreated her hands to cover her eyes. This gave the nothic enough time to punch her in the face and throw her off of him. 

He stood up. “Fucking vampires….” He wiped some of the blood off of his face. “GENTLEMENT. COME OUT. THE COVER IS BLOWN.” 

Two nervous rock elementals came over and walked in. They threw the nothic his coat and kneeled down. 

“Sorry we didn’t help you, Chief Inquisitor Tebethy,” one of the rock men said. 

“Wait hold on…” Fidan stepped ahead. “Teb… Is that you?” 

The nothic, who I guess was Teb, sneered. “Took you long enough, didn’t it? You grew up to be quite beautiful, didn’t you?” 

“Wish I could say the same to you,” Fidan frowned. “What happened?” 

  
  


“Oh,  _ NOW  _ you care. Typical Fidan. You never care until it’s too late. You didn’t care about Dain and you certainly didn’t care about me. “ Teb gave a light chuckle. “Though it’s a great coincidence I ran into you. Did you know I just caught up with your lover recently?” 

“What the fuck did you do to Artis?” Fidan snarled. 

“Artis? Why would I care about him? No no no,” Teb laughed. “No no i’m talking about your other bard fucktoy, Elrich. He’s just dying to see you again, y’know.” 

So that confirms it. I was right. Elrich did go to see Teb. Damn, i fucking hate being so right all the time. 

“You know,” Teb said, walking around. “Normally in these types of missions, I’d make sure to not leave a single one of you alive. But I’m feeling quite affectionate today, Fidan. Let’s just say recent events have had me quite nostalgic. Negotiate and give me what I want, and there doesn’t have to be any bloodshed.” He looked past us at the quiet and shrieking girl behind us. “I would hate to have to harm poor little Sapphire again.” 

Luna got up off of the ground and began to run to attack Teb once more but instead one of his rock men intercepted, pulling out a hammer and slamming her in the stomach. She flew backwards, crashing into the outer wall of her shack. 

“You motherfucker….” Fidan whispered. “What the fuck could you possibly want from us?” 

“The Earth Angel.” TEb smiled. “We found energy readings very similar to it here. Actually, quite stronger than the Earth Angel. And we’re…. Curious. What are the odds that another piece would be found by the same household?” 

“I don’t…. know what you’re talking about..” Luna said as she slowly stood up, clutching her gut. 

Teb snarled. “If you don’t want to tell us the answers, that’s fine. We’ll just find out ourselves.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small phone looking thing and extended the long silver attenna. “This is the EAR, or as we call it, the Earth Angel Reader. It does exactly what you’d think it does.” 

He pushed the button on it and began to look at the screen as the thing gave off little beeps and boops. He pointed it at the house to little beeps and then moved it to the right, more and more, and as he did, the beeps and the boops grew louder, more frequent, until finally the beeps and boops were practically screaming. The antenna…. Was pointed at me. 

What the fuck?? 

“Well, this is quite interesting,” Teb looked at the monitor. “The earth angel piece must be on her person. Guards, frisk her!” 

“Fuck off!” I yelled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have your weird earth bullshit and I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Mira gulped. “Veronica, do you think it’s because you have the… you know what’s…. Inside of you?” 

Oh fuck. The chaos emeralds. I forgot. It’s been so long since I was actually able to do something with them that tbh I kinda forgot that i even had them. Geez, that was some bullshit. 

“Interesting…” Teb said, looking at the readings on his radar. “So you’re saying this girl is the container of all of this power?” 

I tried to prepare some fire magic in my hand. “Something like that. What’s it to you, you one eyed fuck?” 

“Well then.” Teb smiled. “If we can’t take the Earth Angel piece from her, I guess we just take the whole girl.” 

“Take her? Back where?” Fidan asked. 

“Back to Patter, of course. I’m sure my emperor would be quite fascinated by this discovery.” 

My ears perked up at that. Hmmm.

Hmmmmm. 

“Over my dead body!” Mira said, standing in front of us and getting her lyre out, an act that she probably thought looked more threatening than it actually did. 

“Right, we’re not going to let you.” Fidan took a blade out of her belt. “Do you really think you can win against two magic users and two vampires?” 

I stepped up in front of them both and held my hands above my head. “Okay, I surrender.” 

“WHAT!?” Mira yelled. 

“Wait, what?” Teb said, taken aback. 

“Veronica, you can’t…” Mira said, in a soft voice. 

I turned around and smiled at her. “You have to trust me on this, Mira.” 

FIdan kept a strong grip on her blade. “Are you positive this is what you want to do, Elm Rune?” 

“Positive.” 

She kept her gaze on me before loosening her grip on her blade and putting it back in her holster. She grabbed Mira’s hand and stepped back a bit, guiding her to be with the others. 

“Then it’s official,” Teb said. He took some cuffs out of his pockets and held them up. I placed my hands in front of me and let him put the cuffs on my wrist. “It was a pleasure making this exchange with you. Now, if all goes well, this is the last I’ll be seeing of any of you. Goodbye.” 

And with that, I walked along with them, Teb leading in front, the rock elementals behind me. I tried to turn around to get one last look at Mira and then others but then one of the rock guards slapped my head, forcing me to look forward. 

I hope I didn’t just make a big mistake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave reviews if you hope veronica didn’t just make a huge mistake


	51. will you be mine?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: it was mother’s day and i couldn’t even talk to her

Serinepth fluttered her eyes open. There was nothing better than being woken up by the beautiful Patter sunlight. SHe had grown to really love it, especially ever since she got her second bedroom, which was even bigger than the guest bedroom she originally had. She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her bell and rang it. 

A small rock girl named Quartz walked into the room. “What is it, Rockmistress Sinderman?” 

“Oh.” Serinpeth said with disappointment. “I take it Yelm isn’t back yet from his mission?” 

“Uh, no, Rockmistress Sinderman. But I’m here to serve you as needed!” 

Seripenth frowned at this. It felt like Yelm was gone for too long. Longer than he should’ve been. What was taking him so much time? As head of the planning committee, it was her job to make suer things were going according to planned. 

Oh well, though! That was something for another day! 

Seripneth sat up. “Yes, yes. Very good. Please bring me a glass of wine and send my makeup people here. I must get ready for today.” 

“Of course, Rockmistress!” Quartz bowed and then exited out of the room. 

Before long, she was in the makeup chair, getting her face done up and sipping a glass of wine. She observed her nails. They were long and perfectly manicured (though her pinkie nail was a bit longer than the others). She remembered when this used to feel like pampering. Now it was just her routine. Gosh, how long had it been since she got hired as head of the planning unit? Three years? Hard to believe. Tbh she didn’t even know what the job was. She would just do her thing and have a good time and get nice outfits and have fun and then occasionally someone would ask her something about a “town” or “search” or “earth angel” and she’d just give the okay and let them go. 

Finally she was all prepped and pampered and looking like the star she knew she was. She gave a light thanks to her staff and downed the rest of her wine and then strutted off to go meet up with Corka for the day. 

He was in his rockreation room, looking at something intently, before he turned around. “OH FUCK YEAH, SERINEPTH. YOU GOTTA SEE THIS SHIT!” 

“What is it?” she said, hunching over to see what it was. 

“Recent group of soldiers brought this in from a piece of shit town they raided. It’s called a record player?” He pointed at the needle and disc thing. Serinepth had seen one before. She had one in her old office, back in the old days. “This shit plays music! Any music you want! Whenever! Listen to this shit!” 

He moved the needle and the record started spinning and as he touched the needle to it, the sound of Earth Angel began blaring over the room. 

Corka just smiled. “If you don’t think that’s the coolest shit then get the fuck out of my face!” 

“I think it’s really cool!” she said. “Super super cool.” She pulled a tiny baggy out of her handbag and dipped her finger in and held it up to her nose. There was something on her mind… something…. She was thinking about… but it was so hard to think…. What was it? What…. OH! Yeah! 

“Oh! Yeah! Sir!” serinepth yelled. “I’ve noticed you kept talking about this Earth Angel thing and you even sent Yelm to go on a mission to retrieve something related to it. But, like, what is it?” 

Corka’s jaw dropped. “Oh fuck. Oh shit. I… didn’t explain it to you, did I? Fuck, I just thought you knew. Everybody knows! Fuck me. I’m so fucking sorry.” He yelled out the word “WHITEBOARD” and within a few minutes a whiteboard was there. “Tell me, Sinderman. You a religious gal?” 

“No really,” Serinpeth said atheistly. She sat down in the chair and watched Corka draw on the whiteboard. 

Corka just laughed. “Me neither, under usual circumstances. But there’s this belief among elementals of the original rock man, the messiah, the one sent to us from the heavens as the one true god.” 

“Uh-huh. I see” Serinepth said, taking another finger hit. 

“Yes. To some, he was known only as the Earth Angel. To others, he was referred to by his birth name, Jesus Christal. He used his powers to help the rock elementals go from living in caves to living in prosperity. Hell, he even sometimes mated with humans. That’s how the cannon people were born.” 

“The cannon people?” 

“Yeah, they were cool. And useful But decades ago they all disappeared.” He sighed. “So now… it’s so much harder for rock people out there than it used to be…” 

“Oh geez, I”m so sorry” Serinepth felt bad. This poor man. 

“But that’s where the rumors come in. See, word on the street is that after Jesus, or the Earth Angel, died, parts of his body were put into the ground, spread across multiple places in Isathill. And those bodies might have remnants of the same power he originally had.” 

“I see,” Serinepth was almost getting it. 

“Yeah. I had always heard the rumor myself but it wasn’t until I met Teb, you know Teb, right? He came along and he gave me the sales pitch and I knew that I couldn’t not have it. I mean, what rock emperor would I be if I didn’t have the original rock man himself?” 

“RIght, of course! A strong man like you needs to be strong at all times!” 

“Exactly!” Corka’s face dropped a bit. “Unfortunately, not all people around me saw it that way…” He looked at a picture on his desk of him, some woman, and a young girl. “But fuck them! They’ll get it! They’ll all fucking get it! And they’ll see how fucking stupid it was to doubt me!” 

“Fuck yeah!!” Serinpeth said. “You got this!!” 

“So you’re still on board, right?” Corka said, putting the dry erase marker he didn’t use away. 

“Of course!!” Serinepth walked up and gave him a hug. “I’ve been here for years now, right? And I wouldn’t be standing by you if I didn’t believe in Patter and I didn’t believe in the strength of what we’re doing.” 

“Good. Good.” Corka smiled, returning the hug. He held onto it, even tighter. “You remind me so much of her... “ 

“Aw, thanks,” Serinkpeth said releasing the hug. “Anyway, I just hope Yelm gets back soon with it…” 

“Yes…” Corka said. “Then we can begin.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ooooh what does this mean? What does corka want to do? Leave reviews


	52. the new buzz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: being quarantined is fucking lame

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’m so boreddddd” Winsler whined as he tossed a ball towards the wall. 

“If you’re bored, you can always help me with my accounting!” rock jerry said. 

“Noooooooooooooooo that just sounds more boring.” He tossed the ball at the wall again and then Mr. Wiggles caught it in mid air and returned it to Winsler. He gave his cat a nice pet. He had been in here for at least three hours and he was bored out of his mind. It wasn’t fair. Serinpeth got to finish her dinner and he was stuck here with rock conspiracy theorist and his office of pets. 

“Pzzzzt” winsler heard a voice say. 

His ears perked up. He looked over at Rock Jerry. “Did you say something?” 

“No,” Rock Jerry frowned. “Why would I do that?” 

Winsler looked at Mr. Wiggles. “Did you say that?” Mr. Wiggles just stared at him and gave a light meow. 

“Pzzzzzzzzzzzz it iz I,” the voice said again. “Plezze turn around and look in the cage.” 

Winsler stood up and looked at the bee in the cage. “Am i…. Talkin to a bee?” 

“That iz KING bee to you, human,” the bee said. 

“Okay, first of all, not a human. Ouch. Second of all, I thought bees had queens?” 

“I tranzzzitioned.” 

“Aw congratulations! I’m so proud of you!” Winsler smiled but then his face got serious again. “Anyway, what’s up?” 

“Whatzzzzzzzz up is that we both seem to be stuck in this room.” 

“You’re stuck here too?” 

“No zzzzzzzzzzzzhit,” King Bee said. “I have been caged.” 

“What happened?” Winsler couldn’t help but ask. I mean, he could understand why someone would cage a bee so it was kind of a dumb question. But it wasn’t like there was much else to do here. 

“Long time ago we beez ruled thezze landzzz.” The bee said. “I wazzz king of Pitter and Patter and all of Izzzathil.” 

“Oh geez,” Winsler said. “Well this looks like a big demotion.” 

“Indeeeed. The rock elementals, lead by Corka and hizzz wife Yona, usurped the throne and killed my human guardzzz and took it for themzzelvezzz.” 

“They killed your guard but not you?” Winsler was confused. 

“Yezzz. They knew that should the king be killed, there would bee a bee uprising, the likezzz of which have never been zzeen before.” 

“Oh geez. I’m sorry.” Winsler thought about it for a second. “Wait, are you sayin’ that Corka is some conquerer type dude?” 

“No zzzzhit,” the bee said. “How long did it take you to figure that one out?” 

“Oh geez…” Winsler thought about it. “Last time I was out of this office, my friend Serinepth was alone with him.” 

“Sheee is in a lot of danger then. I’m zzorry.” 

Winsler sighed. “So what do you propose we do?” 

“I know my way around the cazztle. We can ezzcape through the ventzzz. But I need you to open the door and let me out of this cage and then open the vent.” 

“And then we’ll be a team?” 

“Yezz. We will bee a team.” 

Winsler thought about it. Teaming up with a bee was weird, though nowhere near as weird as what’s happened recently. Plus he was starting to get really bored in this office and a little hungry and he wanted some way out and to save his friend too. 

“Alright, I agree.” Winsler smiled as he opened the cage door. “Team Wallabee, ready for action!” 

The bee flew out of the cage. “Pleazzz don’t call us that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you support team wallabee!


	53. a successful beescape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I told dad and Janet about Alec and they seemed really happy for me…

Winsler stood on his tip toes and held his arms above his head and grunted. “Urghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can’t reach it!!” 

“You are very zzhort,” the bee said, perched on his shoulder. 

“Yeah I know, you don’t have to rub it in!” Winsler said, frowning. He looked over to Rock Jerry, still at his desk, totally unaware of the scene going on behind him. He was probably just working super hard, Winsler thought. 

“Hey, uh, buddy!” Winsler yelled. “I need your help. Can you give me a boost so I can open the vent?” 

“Huh?” Rock Jerry looked up. “Why would we want to open the vent? That’s illegal.” 

“So?” Winsler asked. 

“We’re going to get in trouble!” Rock Jerry poutted. 

“No, you won’t! I will!” Winsler said but that didn’t seem to change Rock Jerry’s demeanor any. Winsler sighed before he heard the tiny voice in his ear again. 

“Let me take care of thizzzz” King Bee said as he flew off of Winsler’s ear and over to rock jerry and landed on his shoulder. Rock Jerry barely noticed so WInsler had to go “hey, what’s that on your shoulder?” 

Rock Jerry turned his eye around and then looked at it and then jumped. “AHHHHHHHHH!” He hid himself into a corner. “It’s… it’s a bee!!!” 

“Yeah a bee!” winsler said. “Oh gosh, oh geez, I hear those are just as dangerous as elves!” 

“R-really??” Rock jerry said. 

“Oh most definitely!” winsler yelled. “They don’t just sting you, they sting you so bad that your… your blood becomes poison!!” 

“I don’t even have blood!” Rock Jerry yelled. 

“Exactly! So who knows what it’ll do to you if it stings you?” 

“Oh geez oh man!” rock jerry swatted at the bee who was still flying around his head very very fast.. “What do we do?” 

“We gotta let the bee go. Get him out of here.” 

“But the door doesn’t open from the inside!” Rock Jerry screamed. 

“Well, there is one way out…” winsler mocked a thought before he pretended to disregard it. “Ah, forget it. It would be against the law.” 

“What is it??” Rock jerry held a stack of papers in front of him to shield himself from the bee. 

“Well, we could open the air vent…” WInsler said. “That would give him a chance to escape…” 

“Whatever we gotta do!!” Rock jerry cautiously stood up and opened up the air vent on the wall. “There! Now please leave me alone!!!” 

Winsler climbed on top of Rock Jerry’s body and hopped into the vent. “Thank you, friend! Good luck with your numbers and stuff!” 

“Goodbye!!” Rock jerry said, slightly confused as he watched his new friend, his cat, and the bee go into the air duct. 

Winsler walked around on his hands and knees, going through the individual air ducts. As he moved, the duct would creak a bit and make him nervous. He would listen to the voice of the bee every now and then telling him to “go left” or “go right” or “go straight’ which was really weird because everyone knew Winsler was gay. 

Sometimes when they were over other air ducts, they could hear conversations going on. Like at one point in time, Winsler could hear two soldiers talking about how bullshit it was that they have to keep digging in the dirt. Another soldier was complaining about not getting his check in time. He heard one woman, a tailor, talk about how she’s suddenly having to make dresses for a much shorter and thinner person than her usual rock clientele . Winsler also overheard one conversation between guards, complaining about how Teb was bringing back a prisoner instead of the earth angel. Winsler knew what none of those words meaned, though, so he just kinda tuned it out. 

“So where are we even going?” Winsler whispered to the bee. 

“We are going to my throne room,” the bee said. “And then, after I see my amazzzzing throne-like chair again, we can ezzcape out of here and get help to take my nation back.” 

“Aren’t we gonna help Serinepth?” Winsler said quietly. 

“Your friend might already be deaddd,” the bee said. “We cannot face Corka and his army right now. Now when we’re like thizzz.” 

“But.. she’s my friend…” Winsler said softly. 

“Juzzt keep going zztraight.” 

Winsler did as told and kept going, Mr. Wiggles following behind him. 

Here’s the thing about air vents: they’re generally not meant to be climbed through. If they were, they would have stair cases leading up to them. The only thing they usually have going through them is air and, while Winsler is very small, he is still much heavier than air. Then was it any surprise when the duct finally found himself broken under him and Winsler and the bee came crashing down onto the dining room table? 

“Owwwww” winsler said as he grasped his stomach in pain. He didn’t think the fall would be that bad. He looked around him. The table was completely cracked, the table legs snapped. He could also hear… music? What was that? Was that the train coming song? 

He sat up a bit to see Corka, a look of fury on his face. And… Serinepth? But something was off about her. She was wearing such… nice clothing. And was nicely made up. And was it just his glasses shattering a bit from the fall or did she look…. Older? 

He saw as Corka jumped up from the table and walked over to them. The bee was buzzing around Winsler’s head. Suddenly Corka’s hand swatted it onto the ground, where Corka then stepped on it. 

“Fucking bees. How the fuck did they get in the castle?” Corka then turned his attention over to Winsler. “And just who the fuck are you?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip king bee


	54. a good friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dylan messaged me, asking what’s going on with me and Alec

“Who the fuck are you??” Corka yelled. “And why the fuck were you in my fucking vents??” 

Serinepth squinted her eyes. There was something about this small boy that looked familiar. Did she know him from somewhere? Her mind was fuzzy. She took another hit of the powder that was on the now crushed table. 

“You come in here, you disrupt my fucking dinner, you fuck up my table!!” Corka looked down at the small boy, who was cowering in fear. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just bust your goddamn head open right now you piece of fucking shit!!” 

“I… I’m a friend of Serinepth’s. Remember me? You sent me to the office?” 

Serinepth tried to dig through her brain. Why was it so hard to think of things?? Come on, she knew she recognized this kid. 

Corka held up the boy by the collar. “Don’t fucking lie to me, motherfucker!” 

Suddenly it hit her. “Oh!! He’s right! I do know him! His name is Winsler! He was an old friend of mine from school!” 

“Oh.” Corka lowered Winsler down, but still kept a tight grip on his collar. “So you’re friends?” 

“Yes!! Omg Winsler it’s so good to see you!” Serinpeth said, smiling and laughing. “Oh come on, take a seat! We can have one of the servants fix up the table and then we can have dinner and maybe catch up? Jesus, it’s been too long.” 

“Serienpth…” Winsler said, his breathing slightly choked by the whole Corka grip thing. “What’s going on? What’s happened? It’s only been three hours???” 

Serinepth wondered what he was talking about. She hadn’t seen winsler since… gosh, she first got here. What was that? Four years ago? 

“Look, if you’re a friend of my associate here, then that’s fine!” Corka held Winsler up to eye level. “But you think that makes up for you sneaking around? Breaking my fucking table? What are you, a Pitter spy?” 

“No!” Winsler croaked. “I’m just a small boy who somehow keeps crashing and landing in bad situations. Can we go now?” 

“We??” Corka asked. 

  
  


“Yeah. Me and Serinepth.” Winsler looked over to her. “Come on, we have to find Veronica and the others. They might still be alive. We might be able to stop zombie elrich.” 

Veronica? Oh Jesus, that was a name Serinpeth hadn’t thought about in a while. That was that girl who destroyed her original universe right? She kinda just figured she’d died but tbh Serinpeth didn’t think about her much. She had much more important things on her plate. She took another sip of wine. 

“Look, Winsler, right?” Serinepth said. “I appreciate the offer and I’m sure it sounds fun, but… I have a job now. And a life. And I can’t just drop that all to go on some sort of… shenanigans with my high school friends.” 

Winsler’s face turned pale. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about….” 

“Look, kid,” Corka tightened his grip around Winsler’s collar. “She said she didn’t want to go with you. Are you not going to take that no as an answer?” 

“Something’s…. Wrong…. Here…” Winsler said, between coughs. It was getting a lot harder to breathe. “I’m… her good friend… I just…. Want to help her… we… have to go…” 

“HELP HER? FUCK YOU!!” Corka raised his other fist and punched Winsler across the face. “You think she’s doing badly?? You think she needs saving?? Go fuck yourself!!” 

Corka began swinging. Again and again and again and again. 

Sereinpth looked away for a moment. Something about this made her… uncomfortable. She always was whenever Corka would get harsh with the servants. She knew it was what had to be done, but… still… She took out her grinder and got out some more powder and snorted it and then her mind went POOF 

What was she worrying about? It was so hard to think. Her brain was just full of giggles. She couldn’t help but laugh. She looked over. 

“YOU WANT TO TAKE HER!” Corka yelled between punches. “YOU WANT TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME. I WON’T LET YOU. NOT THIS TIME.” 

The dining hall was filled with sounds. THe sound of Serinepth’s laughter. The sound of Earth Angel playing on the record player. The sound of Corka, repeatedly hitting Winsler in the face. 

His glasses had fallen off now, shattered on the ground. His eye had swollen, his face bruised. His nose looked busted, blood was all over it. But Corka didn’t stop hitting. He just kept at it and kept at it, punch after punch after punch after punch. He stopped, just for a moment. He held Winsler up to eye level again and whispered. “Please… don’t be a good friend to her.” 

Serinpeth couldn’t help but laugh. Her mind was just so foggy. You would think she would be numb to this stuff. But she was just giggly. And as she looked at the scene of violence, she kept giggling. And giggling. And even when the tears were flowing down her face, she still giggled. Why was she crying? Why was she…? 

“STOP!” sereinpth yelled. She stood up, trying to find her balance. “Corka… I think… that’s enough.” 

Corka stopped in mid swing and looked behind him. He saw her face, a look of sadness and… disappoitnment on it? HAd she been crying? Fuck, he hadn’t wanted to do that to her. He looked back over to the boy and threw him on the ground. 

“Fine. I’ll stop.” He walked over to his spot on the table. “But if you don’t want your friend dead, it’s going to be your duty to take him to medical center.” 

Sereinpth nodded and wobbled on her heels and picked up the small gnome boy in her arms and walked him down the hallway. 

“I’m sorry he did that to you…” She looked down at his face. It was a mess. She couldn’t bear to look at it too much. 

“Serinepth… please….” he said between gasps, his words slurred.. “We gotta… we gotta... get out of here…” 

“I know this isn’t the reunion you expected, but I can assure you: the Grand Emperor is actually a sweet guy once you get to know him.” 

“Serenetph…” Even with his face so badly damaged, she could see the look of disappointment in his eyes. It pained her to see her old friend like this. 

“I’m so sorry…” Serinetph said as she entered the medical building she had once woken up in and set Winsler down on the table. “I’ll make sure to have my servants look after you. We’ll get you better. Afterwards, I’ll talk to the Grand Emperor and see if I can let him keep you here.” 

Winsler looked like he was going to say something but, upon being put into bed, he simply just slumped over. The nurse rock was in there soon with bandages and things and pushed Serinepth out of the room, saying she shouldn’t be there to see this. 

She tried to think of something to say before she left but all she could think to do was to say it again. “I’m sorry.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: poor winsler :(


	55. hark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i still send texts to my mom. I don’t know if she’s even able to read them

HARK! I look there at the land lubbers, seeing them flail about. Their strange furr and dancing be strange, as be there human fingers and noses. Aye, these felines sure are freaky. Freakiest of the universes I been to this far. 

Yar, I say, as I squint my view. I look past the lantern and see the cats dancing by the sewer grate. Filthy felines, they be. 

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!” the bowcat cat croaks. “FOR THE MIRA THE MAGICAL MUSICAL CAT” 

A cat with dark black furr and pointy cat ears comes out with a lyre. Aye, that look like one of them. Meanin the rest of them ain’t be too far, does it? 

The cat named Mira begins singing some short of shanty. 

_ There’s a song inside your heart _

_ There’s a song ready to start _

_ And you know where you can hear it at?  _

_ Now come lift up your ears _

_ Raise your paws and give a cheer _

_ For Mira, the Musical Cat _

Now, come on, Fidan. Just aim down the barrel and kill the Mira. Like all the Miras that came before her. I aim me cannon pistol straight at her head and fired and while she was in mid verse, her head splattered across the concrete. A bunch of cats looked up at me and hissed in fury so i gave them me middle finger and kept looking for other members of SWIM. Ain’t killin’ no innocents. Just SWIMs. 

I saw a cat with bright red furr and horns somehow. This universe be weird and disturbing. I couldn’t wait to leave and go to some other universe, one where things were more normal. 

I heard some of the cats under me raise their voice. 

“WHO IS THAT?” the tuxedo cat said. 

“Maybe she’s working with Macavity!” the orange cat yelled. 

Macavity? That name ain’t mean nothing to me. Gotta aim my sights down at the Integrity cat. Just one hit off of my list and the-

ARG!! 

Some rascalliwags approached me from the side and tackled me over. I looked up to see a very tall black cat scratching my face over and over and over again. ARG. THE AUDACITY OF THIS BITCH. 

I tried to reach for me gun but it be useless. The jellicle was scratching too harsh and too fierce. I had to retreat. I held me breath for a second and poofed ot the first place that came to mind. 

And I opened me eyes and saw where I was and knew that I needed to be headin somewhere else. This wasn’t good. I can’t be here. This be… home. 

I began to catch my breath. Teleportin between universes takes a lot out of ye. Way harder than simple teleporting. But I had to leave before

FUCK

I felt a bullet enter my side. I looked up to see a group of pirates. My vision be fading. Oh geez oh fuck. Before I faded out, I heard what they be saying. A male voice. “Aye, we found her. The traitor Fidan Artisan.” 

When I woke up again, I was in a jail cell. There was a wee dog across from me on the other side of the bars, a key in his mouth. I began to reach forward for the key but stopped as my stomach felt sharp pain. I graspe me side. 

“Aye, ye ain’t wanting to be doing that,” a short man said, kneeling in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed him but I do who he was immediately. 

“Captain Underbow. I shoulda known it be ye.” I gritted my teeth. 

“Fidan. Such a disappoint.” the Captain said. “Thought you could flee us, did ye?” 

“Been tryin’ my best. I told ye I be coming back for my fair justice when me job was done.” 

“Aye. Your murder quest. I know it well.” The Captain smiled, his gold teeth showing. “Ye killed me best Boatswains. The boatswims, if you will.” 

I huffed. “If ye knew what they were responsible for, ye would kill them too.” 

“Ye right. I don’t know. What I do know is that ye turned against your own men and abandoned the conflict in the middle of the dreaded Pirate War. Ain’t no God in the high seas that will show ye mercy for that, Fidan.” 

“I don’t want mercy,” I growled. “I want to do what’s right.” 

“Aye, that may be,” Captain Underbow smiled. “Ye still gonna hang.” 

I tried to teleport out but it was no good. I was too injured. I was too weak from hopping universes. FUCK. This be bad. 

“When will I be hung?” I asked bluntly. No sense hidin from the inevitable. 

“Ye be in luck. The ropes broke and we need to find new ones. But as soon as we do, it’s straight to the gallows for you, Fidan.” 

He began to walk out of the room but before he did, he turned around. “I would say to send love out to ye loved ones. But I don’t know anyone who could love you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you like pirate fidan


	56. rock fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I asked dad if I could borrow his razor and I used it to give myself an undercut

Oh geez oh frick this wasn’t good. 

Nervously, I opened the door. “Inquisitor Yelm! Oh my gosh! What’re you doing here?” 

He looked down, a smile and… slightl bit of… something on his face? Was it fear? But why would he be afraid of me? “Oh, Mara. What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know you would be here.” 

“Yeah, this is our new spot.” I gave a nervous chuckle and tried to peak around him to see the two other guards he was with. “What, uh, what brings you to Whatever?” 

“Are your parents home?” Yelm asked. He slightly pushed me aside. That made me grumpy. NOBODY pushes me aside. But i let him do it anyway. Because mom and dad would be ticked off if I caused them any trouble. 

“Uh, no. No. Can I help you with anything?” 

“Ohhhh it’s nothing. I just thought he had something of ours.” He gave a friendly smile and then turned around to one of the rock soldiers and gave him a nod. THe soldier then got out a little device from his pocket and held it up and turned it on and it began beeping. 

I stood on my tip toes to try and look at it. “What’s that? It’s making noise. Is it magic?” 

“Sort of. It’s electronic.” Yelm smiled. “But it detects magic.” 

“Electronic?” I’ve never heard that word before. Weird. But I kept watching nervously, wondering just what they were doing. The soldier held the thing up and I kept hearing the beep over and over again. He kept moving it around, seeing if the beep is moving faster. 

“Tell me, Mara.” Yelm leaned down to be at eye level with me. “Is anyone else home with you?” 

“Nope.” I gulped, lying like a gosh darn liar. 

“Good. So you don’t have to tell anyone else about this visit then, do you?” 

“No sir” I said, giving a salute. But then I questioned myself. Why would I give a salute? Do people give salutes in this situation? I didn’t want to salute this man. I wanted to spit in his face. 

The soldier kept pointing the device everywhere he could. At the couch and at the wall and in the blood bucket. The beeping just would get louder and faster or slower and quieter. It was super super weird. 

He held the device up to the door and I had to hope they wouldn’t open it. Thankfully, the device didn’t beep, so I was able to release my breath and not be AS nervous. Finally, they got towards the kitchen and began beeping there. The beeping was getting louder. And louder. He approached the fridge. And then

“ACHOO”

“Hm?” Yelm raised his head. 

Frick. That must have come from the other room. I could hear the voice of Integrity go shhhhh and then the dragon born boy go “sorry!” and Yelm gave me a look. 

“I thought you said you were alo-” 

“SIR!” The soldier interrupted. “We found it!” 

The rock soldier was holding up a bag in the air. I recognized it. It was the thing that Vergil gave dad! Oh no. He couldn’t take it. I didn’t know what it was, but that would be, like, super super bad. 

“Ah very good,” Yelm said as he took the bag from the soldier and tucked it into his pocket. “Well, Mara. I guess we’ll be leaving now.” 

“You can’t!” i yelled. “That’s my dad’s! You can’t just take his stuff!” 

Yelm just chuckled. “I believe I can, little girl.” 

“No you can’t!!” I stomped my foot. “I’m not going to let you!” 

Yelm sighed. “Cip, can you help make sure our friend learns the way things work around here?” 

“Aye aye, sir.” The rock soldier approached me, his hand clenched into a fist. He raised it up in the air, prepared to bring it down.

Except as he was doing that, I caught his fist in mid air and stopped the block. Then I lifted the arm up and, putting in all of my body weight, I threw him over my shoulder and into the wall behind me. 

Yelm yelled, “Shit. I was afraid of this. Yax, get in there!” 

The other soldier approached me, his weapon drawn, but before he could do anything, I jumped up onto him and began using my sharp nails to tear at his face. It was rock, so it wasn’t that effective, but as he was trying to swat me off, he ended up punching himself in the face which was kinda funny, not gonna lie. I jumped off of him before he fell onto the ground and then I stood over him and ripped into his chest, digging my hands threw until his insides were entirely exposed. 

Yelm took a metal rod off of his belt and hit a button that caused it to glow with weird lightning stuff. “Fucking vampires… That’s it, kid! I didn’t want to do this but I will!” 

He began swinging it at me but I dodged and dodged. He was just swinging too damn slow. Frickin mortals. I was able to punch him in mid swing and that caught him off guard and he dropped his lightning staff. I caught it before it could hit the ground and, as fast as I could, began swinging it in front of me. It grazed his chest a few times, burning him, leaving a bad smell, before I was able to climb onto him and thrust it into his eye. Yelm yelled in pain as it burned against his skin and he fell over. Me, still on top of him, was ready to deliver the final blow to take him out when I felt someone grab me from behind. 

Crap. The other rock guy. Cip. Forgot about him. I struggled to get out of his grip and, as I did, Yelm stood up. He grabbed his stick and put it back in his pocket and then just left??? What the heck?? 

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!” I yelled. I used what strength I had to get out of Cip’s grip and I elbowed him in his rock crotch and then, as he released me and covered them, I grabbed his rock head and snapped it. He fell over to the floor. 

I looked at the two dead rock men on the floor. What. the. Crap? 

The door slowly opened. Integrity was standing there, looking at the bodies and looking at me. “So, uh, do you need help?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you like seeing mara kick ass


	57. an obvious conundrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: okay so i fucked up my undercut. Turns out they’re A LOT harder to do than I thought. SO i just shaved it all off instead.

“This is bad…” I said as I paced around the room. “This is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad.” 

“You’re telling me…” Ax said. “I’m supposed to be marrying a dragon.” 

“What?” I looked at him, genuinely confused. 

“I’m already bethrothed to someone. It’s my duty as chieftan to marry a dragon. Yet… it’s clear that my heart… yearns for another.” Ax began tearing up. “Do you think my beloved would be mad at me? If she knew that I loved someone else?” 

“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??” I yelled. “I’m talking about the fact that Yelm was here! ANd he got away with dad’s thing! And he’s going to be so freaking mad about that!” 

“You know, your parents aren’t around.” Integrity said. “You can say fuck.” 

“I DON’T WANT TO!” I yelled. “RIGHT NOW I JUST WANT TO GET THIS SOLVED.” 

Integrity scratched her head. “So this Yelm dude, he’s a pretty bad dude, right?” 

“Yes! Very!” I yelled. “Yelm works for Corka! And Corka leads Patter! And Patter won’t be happy until they rule or destroy everything all around the globe!” 

“Why did you say ‘around?’” Integrity asked. 

“What do you mean around? Round like a globe.” 

“Globes aren’t round. Globes are like orbs.” 

“... orbs are round.” 

“Nah, orbs are flat.” Integrity crossed her arms. “Don’t believe everything that people tell you.” 

My eye twitched a bit. 

Integrity saw my irritation and came up to approach me, her arms rubbing my hair. “Hey there, little sis! Don’t be upset!” 

I pushed her arm away. “Don’t call me little sis! I don’t even know you!” 

“Well, whatever. Look, so Yelm took your dad’s thing. So what’re you going to do about it?” 

I gulped and thought. I didn’t know what I was going to do. This was way above my paygrade. I usually just do homework and fight training and that’s it. “So…. dad should probably know his thing has been taken. And as soon as possible” 

“Right. So text him!” Integrity said. 

“Text him? Like, write a letter?” 

“Yeah, and send it digitally!” 

“I don’t know what that means!” I huffed. “Okay, so I’m going to have to find him in person. He went to go find mom in Pitter.” 

“Oh okay, cool.” Integrity cracked her neck and smiled. “So that’s settled! We go on a field trip to Pitter!” 

“Heck yes! Pitter!” Ax jumped up and into a victory pose. “Adventure time!” 

“Wait wait wait, children!” I huffed. “Problem is I’ve never been to Pitter. Plus it’s closed off and there are only certain ways you can sneak in.” 

Integrity’s face dropped. “Oh. So you don’t know how to get to Pitter?”

I thought about it for a second. “No. But I know who might.” 

I took a bottle out of the cabinet and began filling it up with some blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ooh what is she planning? Hit that next chapter button to find out


	58. vampire exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad seemed really surprised by my hairstyle but he also said it suited me. What does that even mean though??

It had been a while since I left the cave. I was in my best hoodie and pants combo, really making sure to make myself presentable. I was walking with my back straight, head held high, just like a mature adult who totally should be here unsupervised. 

“I don’t know why we have to go with you…” Integrity said. “This is just an errand. Couldn’t we have stayed at home?” 

I rubbed my temples a bit. “No. I don’t trust you at all. Plus don’t call it home. It’s my home. Not yours.” 

“Oh.” Integrity shuffled a bit nervously in her garbs. “So why do we have to wear these elaborate robes?” 

“They’re meant for us when we have to go outside in the daytime.” I whispered, quietly. “But right now, they’re so people don’t know that you’re not vampires. If word got out that mortals were here, they would pounce on you like that. And the last thing I want is for someone to drink your blood. So just lay low, pretend to be a vampire, and we’ll all be fine.” 

“Okayyyy I guess” Integrity said in that way that kinda sounded like a pout. 

“I will do whatever my lady wishes!!” Ax said, struggling to see past his hood. “No task is too big or no robes too baggy!” 

“Uh-huh. Sure.” I kept walking, past a bunch of the other vampires that were in the Grand Cave. I tried not to look at them too hard. It was sad, to be honest. So many of them were pale. Not in the usual way. In a deathly way. They looked way too skinny, too. I remember mom said this place was once bussling with vampires. Now it was, what, 25 at best? How tragic. 

Finally, I found who I was looking for. I kneeled over to her and lowered my hood. “Good night, Madame Valentina!” 

The older black haired woman looked up at me. Her deep red eyes were old and baggy with age. Her black hair shined in the flame of the cave. She had put on what black lipstick she could in order to compensate for how pale her lips looked. Sitting down on the blanket next to a small lockbox, she gave me a scowl. “Mara Artisan. What are you doing here unaccompanied?” 

“I need help!” I said. 

“Your mother will be quite upset when he’s heard about this.” She blew out smoke through her nose. “And your father. It’s been a while since he’s supplied us.” 

“Yes, well, we’re working on that.” I gave a nervous laughter. “That’s actually kind of why I’m here. See, I need to find my parents, like, ASAP and I think they’re both in Pitter.” 

Madame Valentina spat next to my foot. “So that’s what you’re for, huh? Directions for Pitter?” 

“I would very much appreciate it!” I smiled, trying to win her over. I could tell by her frown it wasn’t working. “I know you know! Mom said you used to take her and Ms. God Spell there all the time when they were teenagers!” 

“That was long ago and you know it.” She looked at me without blinking. “This is dangerous info. Valuable info.” 

“You think I don’t know that? Do you think I would come here if I didn’t have a gift for you?” I reached into my hoodie pocket and held up the bottle of blood. 

She licked her lips. “Is that…?” 

“Blood. Straight from the man himself. It was procured this morning.” 

She licked her lips and stared fixated at the bottle, longingly. “Fresh…” She shook her head and snapped out of it. “Fine. I will tell you.” 

“Yay!” I reached over to give her a hug but she pushed me away. I gave an awkward chuckle. “So, uh, anyway. How do I get to Pitter?” 

“How to get to Pitter?” she repeated. “You gotta take the long way down. Through the underground, under cover of night. Staying low, laying out of sight. Ain’t no compass, sister, ain’t no map, just a-” 

“Actually a map would be super helpful!” I exclaimed. “I’m very bad at remembering directions. Are you sure there’s not a map you can give me?” 

She rolled her eyes and reached into her lockbox and pulled out a map. “Here you go.” 

I took it from her and tossed the bottle in her hands. “Pleasure doing business with you! Great to see you again!” 

“Piss off.” She opened the bottle and began chugging it. “And don’t blame me when you lot get killed.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh she got a map! Leave a review if you’re excited by Team MIA


	59. solo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec asked why I haven’t shown him a selfie in my snapchats to him recently

I looked at the map of Pitter. “Okay… okay I think this is easy enough to understand…” 

“Can I look at it?” Integrity said, looking around my shoulder and making grabby hands. 

“No!” I yelled, pulling it away from her. “This is too valuable to let just anyone hold onto it! I don’t want you… staining it or getting it ripped on your horns or anything.” 

Integrity’s face dropped and she rubbed her horns. “I don’t have an issue with things getting caught on them…” 

“I’m so excited!” Ax jumped around. “FINALLY! A real adventure! A chance to prove myself and go out there! My first quest as Chieftan!” 

“Woah woah, slow down, children.” I poked him in the head. “You all are staying here.” 

“What??” Integrity yelled. “I thought you didn’t trust us enough to stay here!” 

“Well, yeah, that was going grocery shopping. This is sneaking into Pitter. That’s an entirely different risk. And the more people I have with me, the more risky it is.” 

Ax stroked his chin in thought. “So you’re saying… a solo mission is a better idea than a team effort?” 

“Exactly!” 

Integrity huffed. “Okay but, like, you’re just a kid! That’s dangerous as shit! Don’t you think you need someone who can help you take care of any bad guys you might face?” 

I looked at her for a second. Then I just pointed to the two dead rock men on the ground. She huffed. “Okay fine, point taken.” 

Then she clutched her stomach in pain and kneeled over. I rushed to her side. 

“Hey, you okay?” I said as I dropped the map on the coffee table and helped try to stand her up again. 

“Yeahhhh” she whined. “I think… walking that much after the plane crash…. Exacerbated the whole… body was in a plane crash thing.” 

“Yeah probably.” 

“Plus i was in a train crash, like, two days ago.” 

I looked at her weirdly. “Are you okay? Is this just a thing you do normally?” 

“Basically. Things have been weird. I think I need to lie down.” 

I looked over at Ax who was sitting on the couch and I looked over to Integrity. My arms around her, I helped her limp over to the bedroom again and laid her back down. I pulled up her shirt and saw a large wound there. Blood was pouring out. 

I… I couldn’t help but lick my lips. 

NO! No Mara! Bad! You’re not taking blood from this tiefling girl! No! 

Instead I walked into the bathroom and got a towel and wet it and then put it on the wound. “I think this should help? I don’t really know.” 

“Thankssss” she said as she placed the towel on her stomach. “I think I’m going to rest forever now.” 

“You do that. I’ll be gone when you get back.” 

“Cooooooooooooooool have fun, be safeeeeeeeee” and then I heard her snore. 

I gently closed the door behind me and went out to find Ax

But

Ax wasn’t there. 

And neither was the map. 

And in its place, was a crudely written note done on a napkin 

_ Deer Vampire Girl,  _

_ I am going on a quest. I am gonna proove 2 u that i am a true suiter. I will find ur pairents. Then we will be married. I will tell you about pitter.  _

_ Love,  _

_ Chieftan ax _

_ P.s. if u see my dragon fiance, please let her know about the cancellation of our engagement and let her know i’m sorry _

I rubbed my temples. And then I screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re excited for Ax to save the day


	60. the fall of fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: its’ my birthday soon. I told alec he better get me something good. He said he’ll ask his sister for help since he’s not used to getting gifts for girls

Elrich watched nervously as his small ginger friend paced back and forth around the room. 

“This is bullshit!” Teb yelled. “This is so unfair!” 

Elrich looked over to Fidan, who was leaning on Artis, her arms wrapped around him. The two sat on the couch in silence. They had visited Artis’ cabin as it was the biggest of all of them. The benefits of being a TA, Elrich assumed. 

Elrich finally spoke up. “Y-yeah, you’re right. It’s… it’s not…” 

“I MEAN!” Teb yelled. “I don’t disagree that I deserve punishment, but really?” 

“You blew up the stage,” Artis said bluntly. 

Teb rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so?” 

Artis huffed. “You endangered the lives of all the students. You broke the rules.” 

“Oh I’m sorry, Artisan, but since when did YOU start caring about the rules so much??” Teb yelled. 

“Hey!” Elrich interjected. He stood up. “This might be our last night together as a group. Can we just, y’know… can we just enjoy it?” 

“Do you have to remind me, Raethran?” Teb turned to him. 

“I, uh… I’m sorry.” Elrich shrank in his seat. 

“Maybe if we all campaigned together….” Teb said, under his breath. “Wrote a letter convincing Underbough to let me stay…” 

“I’m not signing off on that,” FIdan said. There was a bit of… harshness in her voice. 

“Why not?? What’s the risk??” 

“Underbough could think we were a part of it!” Fidan screamed. “We could be sent to Beyond Zed too!” 

“And would that be so bad?” Teb screamed in return. “We’d be together!” 

“Tebethy, no.” Fidan broke away from Artis and stood up, towering over the boy. “I’m sorry but you have to live with what you did. You blew up the stage at Traincoming.” 

“I did it so I could find the Heart!”

“And you didn’t find it…” Artis muttered. 

“Your quest for this dumb Heart is going to get us all killed!” Fidan’s pale face was now as red as her eyes. Elrich wasn’t used to seeing her like this. 

Teb stepped back. He hung his head low to the ground. “I thought you all loved me…” 

“We do care about you!” Elrich spoke up. Fidan interrupted him before he cloud say more, though. 

“But you also need to learn the consequences of your actions. You blew up the stage at Traincoming. You put everyone in danger. I’m sorry that you’re being sent to Beyond Zed. Sincerely, I am. But I also can’t say that I approve of what you did.” 

Teb looked at her and then turned to Artis. He furrowed his brow. “What about you, Artisan? Do you have anything to say? Or are you just going to let you beau be your mouthpiece?” 

“Hey!” Elrich was caught off by that. “That’s entirely uncalled for.” Elrich watched as Fidan sat back down next to Artis. He wrapped his arm around her, protectively and kissed her on the cheek. Elrich felt a twitch of pain for some reason. 

“Whatever….” Teb grabbed one of the beers that Elrich brought over, opened it on the side of the coffee table and sat in the corner, drinking it by himself. “I take it after this I’m going to be replaced right? Just like you all did to Dain?” 

There was a silence. Nobody could think of anything to say. Teb took another sip of his drink. 

“I thought we’d be friends forever….” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aw poor teb :( leave a review if you feel bad for teb!


	61. she’s in the jailhouse now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dad asked me what I want for my birthday. I just said whatever

“Climb in there you little shit!” the nothic known as Teb yelled to me. 

I looked around at the small rock basement they had put me in. It was grimey and smelt like shit and clearly hasn’t been used in a while. I laughed. “This is your prison? This is pathetic as fuck?” 

Teb slapped me across the face. It was honestly even funnier because the poor little dude had to jump to hit me. I laughed more. He slapped me again. “Stop that! Stop laughing!” 

“Sorry!” I giggled. “If you want me to take you seriously, you might want to try sending in someone here who’s actually not so silly looking!” 

The nothic squinted his singular eye. Oh my god, who could actually take this guy seriously? “Fine.” He said in a way that almost sounded like a pout. Jesus fuck, can you believe it? “He’ll be curious to see you anyway.” 

Teb punched me in the stomach and then before I could get up and knee him in the dick he ran away and closed the bar doors behind him. That motherfucker. I leaned back against the wall. Alright, so my “get arrested” plan was going great. I was in Patter. I had met Teb. Any moment now I could plan my escape and then find Zombie Elrich and kick his ass and then save the day and then do, I don’t know, some shots or something. I haven’t really planned that far ahead. 

I thought about Mira. I wondered if she was okay. I mean, I left her alone in Pitter. Well, not alone. Fidan was there. She seemed cool. A little, like, on edge, but fuck it, I can’t blame her. Way better than that other Fidan. I wonder what she’s doing. Probably something way cooler than chilling in a prison cell. 

Finally the bars opened up and a man stepped through. He was a tall rock man, with black rocks and worn out yellow eyes. He wore a crown shittily placed on his head. 

“Well well well,” he said with a smile. “Look at the little bitch we have here.” 

“I mean, you’re right, I am a bitch.” I smiled and tried to hold out my hand to shake his but them I remembered they were in cuffs. “Veronica Sonya Elm Rune, pleasure to meet you. And you are?” 

“None of your fucking business.” He kneeled down to look at me. He got that device Teb had out of his pocket and scanned it around me. It beeped a fuck ton. “So it’s true. You have Earth Angel energy. Care to explain to me why that is?” 

“Eh, not really.” 

He punched me in the face. The mother fucker. I spat at him. 

“Ohhh a rambunctious cunt, aren’t we!” He raised his fist up to punch me again but then he stopped. I was really confused as to why he did but then it hit me that my face didn’t feel pain anymore. It probably healed itself already. He jumped down and placed his rock hand under my chin. “Incredible… fucking incredible…. So it’s true…” 

“What’s true? That you suck shit at punching?” I smiled, despite how much his cold rock hands made me shake. 

“You’ve got power in you.” He stood up and looked down, smiling. “Perhaps we will get to know each other. My name is Grand Emperor Corka. And I have a feeling that you and I are going to be having a lot of fun together.” 

And then he began punching.

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

And punching. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: and punching


	62. some wounds can’t heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alyssa looks so happy these days…

Okay so this wasn’t going as planned. 

I laid against the corners of the prison wall, my face a bruised and bloodied mess. I assume, I don’t know. I couldn’t really see it. I could definitely look down and see the bruises on my ribs and stomach. It felt like something was broken. Yeah, I could feel it healing but it still really sucked ass. That Corka guy is a huge fucking asshole, let me tell ya. 

He had been gone for a couple of hours now. Good. Though I have to admit, it was boring. Being in jail sucked. Is this what Raven felt when she was in school prison? Poor girl. Then again, I was in the sewers at that time so it wasn’t great either. 

I tried to think of everything I needed to do. Okay, so I definitely need to find Elrich. Then find my friends. And then kill that Corka guy. That wasn’t part of the plan originally, but honestly, fuck that dude. 

The door opened again. Without turning around, I yelled out, “What? Back to beat the shit out of me again or do you want me to spit on you once more? Because I only do that once for free.” 

But instead I heard a familiar voice. 

“Oh… I was hoping it wasn’t you.” 

I turned around and sat up. It… It was her. Serinepth Sinderman. Though… something didn’t look quite right. She looked… older? Way older. Like… like an actual adult older. And not gonna lie, she looked fucking hot. She was wearing a tight, elaborate dress and her hair was all done up and that make up…. Jesus, was that better than my makeup? Was I jealous of Serinepth fucking Sinderman? 

“Serinepth! Oh fuck yeah!” I yelled. “I was hoping you weren’t dead. How’ve you been?” 

“Oh, uh, quite swell!” she said. There was something… awkward about it though. Something… different. She was hiding something. 

“How’d you get down here?” I asked her. “Did you sneak past the guards? Did you flip them off??” 

“I… no. I just simply walked down.” Serinepth removed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear with a manicured finger. “Admittedly, I asked the guards for help finding it. I’ve never been here before. The Grand Emperor usually doesn’t take prisoners…” 

I squinted my eyes. “Sinderman… what’s going on here?” 

“Nothing! Nothing is going on!” Seripneth was lying. She was bad at it. “I mean, I’m seeing one of my school friends again after years. That’s pretty nice. Winsler got here last year and, well… he’s not… fully recovered yet. But when he is, maybe I can ask the Grand Emperor to let him come down here and we can all visit again!” 

What the fuck? “Serinepth. How many years has it been since the plane crash?” 

“Oh Jesus…” She raised a manicured fingernail to her red lips and thought about it. “Five years. I’m pretty sure it’s been five years.” 

“WHAT? NO. BULLSHIT.” I screamed. “Serinpeth. There’s something going on. Something is fucky. Can’t you see it?” 

“I mean it is true. You have aged gracefully. You don’t look a day older than how I remember you…” She scratched her head. “Although… my memory isn’t as strong as it used to be. It’s been so long. How’s everyone else doing?” 

“Everyone else? Integrity… I don’t know what she’s doing. I don’t know if she’s alive. And Mira? Mira’s in Pitter. That’s the last I saw her.” I thought about it for a second. “Oh, also we ran into Phillip while we were there.” 

It was like a lightbulb flashed in her head. Her face got read. “Oh gosh. Phillip Maisel. I haven’t thought of him in years.” 

“You two were close, right?” 

She laughed. “Oh, yeah, well. It was a silly childhood crush thing. I’ve grown out of it.” 

I looked at her seriously. “Serinpeth. Now that you’re here, I need you to undo these handcuffs. Once I’m free, we can get Winsler and hopefully take down Corka and Teb and maybe find Elrich too.” 

She gasped. “I… Veronica, you know I can’t do that. I can’t go against my empire like that.” 

My blood ran cold. “Your empire?” 

“I swore my allegiance to Patter years ago. They took me in. They gave me a job. They showed me so much hospitality.” She sniffled her nose a bit. “I know that the Grand Emperor can be… quick to anger. But he’s a great man. And with any luck, I can convince him to have mercy on you! Maybe he’ll even let you go! I can ask to have you as one of my servants if you want!” 

My face got red. “I would rather rot here in prison than be a fucking servant, Sinderman.” 

“That’s… understandable…” Serinepth held her hand up to my face, almost tapping the bruises. But then her hand retreated. “I’ll talk to my emperor and see if he will let me send a guard of soldiers to Pitter in order to rescue Mira. Just to make sure she’s safe.” 

“Don’t you dare let them touch her.” I scowled. 

She huffed. “Veronica, it’s time you grow up. We can’t just keep going around and causing hijinks and mayhem anymore. I’m trying to build something, create glory and peace and prosperity. I don’t want you to take that away from me again.” 

I looked at her as she turned around and began to walk away. Never have I felt more disdain. “I thought you were better than this, Serinepth.” 

She stopped in her tracks. I could hear her unscrew something and then the sound of sniffing. Then she choked up a bit. “I…. I’m sorry.” 

And with that, she was gone, leaving me alone in the cell again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh geez…


	63. another visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec asked what I’m writing all the time and idk what to do because on one hand i’m proud of the fic, on the other hand what if he finds out about me??

FUCk. 

This sucks ass. 

I had already been here for three days and so far I hadn’t done shit. I couldn’t get out of these handcuffs. Every day, Corka would come down and beat the shit out of me and then leave and then I’m alone again for the rest of the day. What the fuck, Veronica?? I thought you had all this shit figured out. 

This was so frustrating. And boring. Honestly just really fucking boring. 

It didn’t help that I was worried about Serinpeth. What was she talking about, five years? It couldn’t have been that long. Phillip said something similar. Did something happen when we crashed the plane? Or is there a curse in Isathill? What the fuck even is it? 

Worst off, I was worried about my best friend. If Serinemeth was telling the truth, and she did send soldiers after Mira, well… that was only going to be bad. Right now, my only hope was that Fidan would use her digging skills or some shit to get her out of Pitter and to hopefully rescue me or do something. 

C’mon, Veronica. Use that sexy fucking brain of yours to figure something out. Because you know that you don’t want to spend another moment in this fucking prison cell and you know you only have a limited amount of time to find Elrich before everything is fucked. 

“Ah.” I heard a cold, familiar voice say. I turned around to see him. Holy shit, he did my job for me. 

He looked about as I remember him looking: like shit. His eyeball loose in its socket, his skin a pale blue. His hair was in a messy undercut. He was wearing ratty ass clothes and a long jacket. 

“You seem surprised to see me,” he said in his low European growl. 

“Just wasn’t the face I expected to see right now, to be honest.” I frowned. “What are you doing here? Come to beat me up too? Everyone seems to be doing that these days.” 

“No. I realized you and I never got to have that talk on the train.” 

“Ah, well, that wasn’t me. That was-” 

“A fake personality. Yes. I’m aware of that now.” He stood across on the other side of the room. “The circumstances of the conversation have changed, yes. However, I feel like there are still some things we need to talk about.” 

I shrugged. “Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere.” 

“Indeed you aren’t. My sincerest apologies about the train. That was not in my usual style. But certain things had to be done.” 

“No they didn’t.” I looked up at him. “You could have just not.” 

“Sometimes we make difficult, destructive choices. I wish I didn’t have to do that. But surely you can understand why I have to do what I did. In fact, I think you would understand more than anyone.” 

“Oh? You think so, huh? You think you know me so well?” 

“Indeed, I do.” He paced around. “You judge me for blowing up a train. Was it not you who destroyed an entire universe?” 

“I….” I turned red. “That was a long time ago. A different person.” 

“Yes. I believe you.” He looked down at me. “You see, I think you’re a good person, Veronica.” 

That was honestly really fucking surprising. “Y-you do?” 

“Yes. You routinely and regularly made sacrifices and put your life on the line in order to save your friends. It’s a very noble cause.” 

“I… thanks?” I was confused. 

“The situation with these…. What did you call them? Chaos Emeralds? It sounded quite bad. But I can’t blame you for it. You were pushed into a difficult situation. And with no other option, you sought out power as a way of compensation. To dig yourself out of the problem.” 

“I…. yeah.” I never thought someone else would…. Get it? 

“I can’t blame you for that. It wasn’t your fault. Rather, it was the quest for power that corrupted you.” He stopped walking for a second. “I’ve seen… first hand how obsessions with these types of things can dominate a person’s life. How they can ruin everything. They’re dangerous objects. One that can only cause trouble and pain.” 

“I agree with you.” 

“I know you do.” 

“But I can’t let you do this! All this stuff you’re doing is just going to put us all in danger! It’s going to kill everyone!” 

“Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. But out of the ashes, a better universe will emerge. One where there’s hopefully peace. Where there aren’t any places like Patter. Do you understand?” 

I frowned at him. “So that’s what you hope to achieve? You think it’s that easy? You realize that you yourself are messing with the fabric of the world, dipshit. You’re a goddamn hypocrite. You got a reality tea.” A thought entered my head. “And you’re probably the one fucking with time, aren’t you?” 

He looked genuinely confused at that. “I… I’m not quite sure what you mean?” 

“I…” I huffed and tries as best as I could to cross my arms while wearing these stupid fucking handcuffs. “Look, is that why you came here? Just to give some lame ass villain monologue? To try and win me over? Because that’s not going to work.” 

“I know it’s not. Truth be told, I don’t really care about you, Veronica. You’re just kind of in the way right now.” He kneeled in front of me and held a finger up by my forehead. “That being said, you are useful for another reason.” 

His eyes glowed blue and he tapped the finger against my forehead and as he did, it was like there was a loud boom that surrounded the area. It was like my brain was… yelling. It was so fucking weird. I didn’t like it. I jumped back, falling down on my ass. 

“What the fuck did you just do??” I yelled at him. 

Still keeling over, he turned to me, his neck moving unnaturally stiff. “You’ll figure it out soon enough. In the meanwhile, get some rest. I do hope you get out of this jail cell. And if you run into Delnys, tell her to come back home.” 

And with that, there was a puff of blue smoke and he vanished, leaving me alone in the prison cell again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what was that about? Leave reviews with your guesses!


	64. dueling with power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: school is over. Finally. Idk if i got good grades or not but at least i can get to writing

“STOP BEING SUCH A PIECE OF SHIT” winslayer yelled. 

I did what i could but that was a hard request. Iniquity was swinging hard and hard and hard and hard and i tried to doge and block with my attack but it just wasn’t working out quite the way i wanted it to. I was actually doing a bit better, to be fair to myself. I had actually gotten her to step back a bit and have to go on the defense, which was cool. Whenever i was in doubt, i would just close my eyes and let the force guide me and then i’d get hit but at least the force was with me. 

I kept swinging, blocking as she made her attacks, doing what i could, until she swung to my right and i wasn’t able to properly block it with my saber. I held my hook up to shield myself from the blow but thta just meant that she sliced right through it. Then she force kicked me and i fell to the ground. 

“Wow, way to go,” Winslayer said. 

“I mean to be fair, she is doing better” Mi’ra noted as she sat to the side, strumming her lyresaber to practice. 

“Better isn’t gonna be enough,” Inquity grimaced. “We’re one person down ever since the whole severepth scenario and finals are coming up soon.” 

“Yes that was a… severe disappointment,” Darthis said. 

“Wasn’t Severepth your cousin, Iniquity?” Mi’ra snarled. “Shouldn’t you have known better?” 

Inquity’s orange skinn turned red. “Look! It’s not my fault that some of my family is complete fuck asses!” 

“It happens to the best of us,” I said as I got myself off of my ass. I was going to wipe the grass off of me but then i remembered that my hook was broken so that would be a bad idea unless i wanted to poke myself in the ass. 

“You are showing improvement, Blood Charm.” Darthis put his hand on my shoulder. “But you still have much to learn. Tell me, is there any reason why you always choose Iniquity as your dueling partner?” 

“I! I! I…” i didn’t have an answer to that. I looked over to her. Her orange skin and red hair and horns and she looked so cool and cute and i hated her tbh. Just looking at her made me hate her anymore. “I just prefer to.” 

“Well perhaps practicing with Wisnlayer or Mi’ra would help out,” Darthis grimmaced. “Finals are dau after tomorrow and I need to make sure everyone is ready.” 

I gulped. I was ready. I knew i was ready. “I’m ready!!” i yelled. Though I thought about it. “Though I’ll need, like… some repairs. On my hook.” 

Darthis squinted his eyes and look at it. “Indeed. I’ll see what the crew here can do.” 

Hell yeah. Once I had this, I would be ready. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An: leave a review if you think raven is ready


	65. sweet dreams are made of these

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i wish i could just sleep normally

I took my hook off of my hand (well, what remained of my hook) and yawned as I placed it on the desk. I was really glad that I could settle down back in my dorm room and just chill after a long night of practice. 

I approached my dresser nervously. I coudln’t nhelp but wonder whether or not Pirate Fidan was going to be in there again, ready to kick my ass and nag me of some shit. I swear, she’s like my goddamn mom sometimes. 

I changed into a big black MCR t-shirt and some black boyshorts with blood red lining and “I hate u clone raven” on the ass cheeks. I had them specifically made by Taylor Tailorson when i was back on the wild cliff express and they were my favorite sleep shorts ever since, especially while I was disguised as murundeen. 

I sat down in bed, disgruntled. Tbh being in my dorm room was relaxing but… kinda boring. I sorta missed how it was back in wild cliff, in teh few months i spent there before my first day of class. I would have all my friends visit my room (individually, because SWIM hated each other back then) and we’d chill out and have fun and smoke wede and hang out and make out and chill but now nobody wanted to come with me. It really sucked. I asked Mi’ra once if she wanted to come hang back at my place and she said that sounded pretty gay and then walked off. And what’s worse is that Mi’ra is gay so I don’t know if that was an insult or not. 

I could go to sleep. But… i haven’t been sleeping well tbh. Not since prime universe. Like my dreams used to just be seeing my dad and sister die over and over again. And, y’know, that really sucked. But now it’s been different. I don’t even know what the dream is. It just… feels like pain. Like some force yelling at me. I think i’ve been having it ever since I killed Severepth? 

God that got me thinking about her prime universe counterpart. I could sure use that melatonin she had in her desk. That would help a lot. 

I decided to write some more of my fanfiction and then finally i drifted off to sleep, phone still in my hand. 

Then shit got weird. 

Okay, so like

My vision was entirely blue. It was like this blue haze was over everything. And i saw some weird vision. It was pirate fidan in some jail cell? And that was strange. And then i saw what looked like this old timey staff and it was glowing blue. And then i saw…. Her. 

Clone Raven. In some shitty prison cell, looking up at me from a first person perspective. And she looked confused. Adnd then the scene changed and it was me and her, in the ruins of some destroyed city. I was standing over her, lightsaber to her neck, her bloody body under me as I stood victorious. I stabbed her through the neck and watched as she stopped breathing. I had won. I did it. As i saw this image, a voice came into my head. 

“It must take place in Isathill.” 

And with that the dream just sorta… looped. Over and over again. Until finally i woke up. 

I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the blue vision and then took out my phone and began writing stuff down in my Notes app. There was no way that was just a normal dream. Then I fell back asleep and went to bed, this time back to the sound of screaming and some sort of force yelling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what could this mean? Leave a review to find out!


	66. the chancellor’s new right hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i asked janet how she’s handling quarantine and she said badly and so i said same

“Wake up, dipshit.” 

I felt the splash of cold water hit me and it woke me up of my shitty and bad sleep. I looked up to see Reyvan over me, bucket in her hand. 

“Hey!” I pouted. “These are nice bedsheets! Don’t get them wet!” 

“Whatever, cuck, “ Reyvan said, giggling. 

“Why are you even here?” i sat up and crossed my arms. 

“I’m here to deliver a message. The chancellor has put out an order to see you.” She rolled her eyes. “For SOME reason.” 

“Oh…” I took the blanket off of myself and looked down. “My clothes are all wet.” 

She looked pissed off. “Who gives a shit? Just get your ass out of bed and put a cloak on.” 

I quickly put on my black robe and my thigh high heeled morning slippers and made my way down the hallway. Reyvan kept one step ahead of me, powerwalking just to make sure. 

“Hey,” i pulled on her sleeve. “Why are you, like, such a bitch to me all of the time?” 

“Because I’m a bitch. Got a problem with it?” 

I paused. “Yes?” 

She just laughed. “Whatever. Just because you killed an unarmed jedi, doesn’t mean you’re hot shit, y’know. None of this will matter because tomorrow you die in Finals.” 

I tried to come up with a witty retort to really hurt her and come back from this. “No, u!” 

Damn Raven. You fucking got her. 

“Whatever.” She stopped and pointed to the door. “We’re here.” 

“Okay cool, thanks.” I opened the door and then she slammed it shut behind me. What a fucking bitch. 

The chancellor turned around in his chair. “Ah, Ms. Blood Charm. Welcome, you are.” 

“Hi.” I sat down at the desk in front of him. “Am I in trouble?” 

He grinned. “In trouble, you are not. Far from it, you are.” 

“Oh.” I paused for a few beats. “So then why am I here?” 

“Heard you needed a new hook, I did.” 

My heart jumped up. “Yes!! Omfg it got destroyed in training and I was worried I wouldn’t have one in time for finals!” 

Underbough just giggled. “Well, rest assured, you can be. A new hand, I have made you.” 

He reached into a cabinet behind him and I couldn’t help but peak inside. Tehre were a bunch of robes, some drinks, a lightsaber, some weird staff thing that was glowing blue, and finally he pulled out…. A HAND. 

A SUPER COOL FUCKING ROBOT HAND

“WOAH WHAT THE FUCK??” I yelled. “IS THAT FOR ME???” 

“Indeed, it is.” He smiled. 

I looked at it and my mouth salivated. “Woaaaah that’s so cool. But… I don’t deserve it.” 

“Of course you do,” he grinned. “Consider it a token for killing Severpth, you should.” 

He opened the case and held out the metal arm. I held up the stump on my wrist and the robot arm jumped onto it, almost as if it was magnetized. I looked down at it. I tried to move my pinky finger and my pinky finger moved. I tried to move my thumb and my thumb moved. I tried to give the middle finger and, sure enough, I could give the middle finger. 

I started to cry. “THANK. YOU. SO. MUCH.” I said between sobs. 

“Of course. Treasure you, I do.” His mouth grinned at that. There was something weird about it. SOmething… I don’t know. Was there something else going on? Something I should investigate. 

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “I had this weird dream last night.” 

“A dream, you say?” 

“Yeah but like. It didn’t feel like a dream? It all felt so real, like I was looking at stuff that was actually happening. Though some of it hasn’t happened yet.” 

“Hmm.” Underbough said. “A vision. Or a premonition.” 

“Wait, like seeing the future??” I got really excited. 

“Possible, it is indeed.” Underbough stroked his saggy chin. “Powerful force users may sometimes see images of events to come. A prophecy, it is.” 

“Woaaaaaaah that’s cool. So you mean… everything I saw… it’ll happen?” 

“It may, yes.” Underbough said. “So long as all of the prophecy is fulfilled.” 

“So long as the prophecy is fulfilled…” I thought on it. I stood up. And began to rush towards the door. “Okay! Awesome! Thank you so much!” 

“Of course, young girl.” The chancellor grinned. “Good luck at finals tomorows, I wish you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: yaay raven got a new hand! Leave reviews if you’re excited for raven’s new hand!


	67. wake up get up get out there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i can’t wait to get grades for my final exams back

I was standing there, looking down. My mind wa sa whirl. I kept thinking about it over and over again. So long as the prophecy gets fulfilled… 

_ It must take place in Isathill. _

What did that mean?? What did it mean?? Is clone raven in Isathill? Will i only be able to kill her if I’m in Isathill? Why is that? Is that how prophecies work?? I don’t know! 

“RAVEN! EARTH TO RAVEN! HELLO!” 

I snapped back to reality. I looked over to my best new friend, Mi’ra. “Sorry, what were we doing?” 

“We’re getting ready for finals, dipshit.” Mi’ra rolled her eyes. 

“Ohhhh right sorry my brain was doing things again.” We were standing in the middle of the Y-wing ship. Everyone in my group was here: Mi’ra, Iniquity, and Winslayer. We were all wearing matching uniform armor, a skintight black body suit and thigh high leather boots with the standard sith cloak. Everyone was walking around nervously. 

I looked down at my side. I had my two lightsabers with me, the red one and the blue one. I didn’t know if I would use the blue one tbh. Didn’t want people to think that I’m a dirty Jedi. 

I shuffled over to Iniquity. “Soooo. Are you nervous?” 

“Me? Hah!” she laughed. “As if. Only a fake sith gets nervous. It’s why that coward ass Bailey Blue didn’t even show up for Finals today.” 

“He didn’t? Weird.” I shook my head. “Anyway, I look forward to fighting with you!” 

“Fuck off, you dragon born murderer.” She walked away and my heart was starting to break and then I got angry. Fine. I’d show her. 

Finally I felt the ship shake as it presumably hit the floor. The monitor in the ship lit up and turned on. On it, there was a man in a dark mask. 

“Welcome,” the dark mask voice man said. “This is Finals. Some of you will survive this day. Most of you will not.” 

I gulped. Wow, did I hope i survive. 

The dark mask man continued. “The rules of Finals are simple. There are several groups of you all: My Chemical Bromance, Panic and the Sithsco, The Black Parade, Red Lightsaber Apparatus, and Sheev Day.” 

I looked over at my group, the black parade. They were all leaning against a wall. 

The TV screen continued. “You will be released in different areas in the grand wilderness of Exogul. We and your mentors will monitor your progress from the stands. There are no rules. There are no time limits. Last group standing wins.” 

Ohhh so that’s how Finals worked? Nobody explained it to me!! 

“Now.” The voice said. “Children, take your places.” 

We stepped up on the white line drawn on the bottom of the ship, all of us in a row, looking ahead of us. It honestly looked cool af. As we looked forward, the door to the ship unlocked and began to slowly go down and down. I could gradually see the battleground of Exogul, the lighting and rain in the dark sky falling down on the tall trees that made up the forest. 

“Now, children. It is time for Finals to begin.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review if you’re excited for Finals!


	68. wake up. grab a brush, put on a little make up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i did some eyeliner today and i was worried about it at first and what it means and then i remembered that I can be a boy and still think i look nice as fuck with cool eyeliner on

Serinpeth woke up from her rest and yawned. This morning was different than most. Sure, there was the usual Patter sunlight she had grown used to in these last six years. There was her giant, comfy bed that she loved to lay in. There was her beautiful, well furnished room. She also had her glass of wine on the nightstand. This was all normal. But… there was also that weight on her lap. She sat up and looked down. 

Curled up in her legs was a small cat, one she hadn’t seen in a while. 

“Mr. Wiggles!” she yelled and she began petting him. “Long time no see, little buddy!” 

As she pet his forehead, Mr. Wiggles stretched out his neck and rubbed his head up against the side of her palm and Serinepth almost died. 

“Wow…” she said to herself. “I almost forgot about you…” 

There was a bit of… sadness as she realized this. “Wait, what’re you doing here? Winsler would love to see you!” 

She scooped up the cat who melted into her grip and began walking, in her night gown and barefoot, across the castle and into the medical wing. She hadn’t been here in a while but that’s because she was busy with, y’know, official stuff. She walked into the room and looked. On the bed there was her old friend from school. He was asleep. He looked… better. She guessed. His face had been stitched up all over. It… wasn’t pretty. 

She sat the cat down on his lap and let Mr. Wiggles just sort of walk around. He put his paw up on Winsler’s tummy and began to rub his face up against Winsler’s face. The gnome boy moved his head a bit before his eyes slowly fluttered open and he grabbed his glasses off of the table by the hospital bed. 

“Well howdy there!” Winsler said as Mr. Wiggles licked his face. “What’re you doing here, little guy?” 

“I, uh, brought him here,” Serinepth spoke up, awkwardly. She can’t believe she felt like a third wheel in her own damn castle. “I… I hope that you don’t mind.” 

Winsler looked at her and smiled. “Not at all.” Mr. Wiggles sat down on his lap and curled up into a ball. 

She couldn’t help but smile, watching that. It was just like…. 

It was just like old times. 

She shook her head, driving the thoughts away. “So how are things? How are you feeling?” 

“Oh, uh, it’s been a rough few days of healing, not gonna lie. But the doctor said my face should heal up soon and then can take the stitches out.” The smile dropped from Winsler’s face and he looked over at her. “I should be asking you that, though. How are things with you, Serinepth? Are you doing okay?” 

She straightened up her posture and rested her hands in her lap. “Oh, uh, yes. Of course. Never been better. I’ve been having the time of my life.” 

Winsler squinted and adjusted his glasses. “If you say so. What all did I miss while I was in the broom closet?” 

“Oh, not much. I got a job. That’s been cool. Mostly I just stay in here all day. Sometimes sign off on some things. Keep the vibes good-”

“Serve the Emperor.” 

Serinepth was silent for a moment. She inhaled. “Yes, I do serve the Grand Emperor of Patter. And I love it! He’s a really swell guy!” 

Winsler just looked at her dead in the eyes and pointed at the stitches on his face. 

She huffed. “Okay, so sometimes he’s… temperamental, sure. But you have to understand that he’s under a lot of stress right now.” 

“So was I during exams but you didn’t see me beating the shit out of people!” 

Serinepth felt something in her stomach. Something she hadn’t felt… in a while. And it scared her. It was weird. And it needed to go away right now. 

She stood back up. “Ahem, well. I best get my morning started. I have lots of things to get done. Plus I think my servants might be waiting for me back in my room, so…. I’ll come back later?” 

He looked at her with that smile she remembered from years ago. “Yeah. I’ll see you then.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if seeing mr. wiggles in the story always warms your heart!


	69. not nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad said my haircut made me look super super cool ^_^

Serinepth sat awkwardly at the breakfast table, pushing her food around on her plate. Occasionally she would look up and see Corka, in his usual place at the table. Teb was also in his usual place: on Corka’s shoulders, resting, whispering into his ear. Serinepth sort of missed the few years that Teb was away on his mission to Pitter. She didn’t know why but she never felt quite… comfortable with him around. Like, he would always ruin her high. 

Though her discomfort now was a different one. She looked over at Corka, nodding intently. She couldn’t hear what Teb was saying. Just something about “girl” and “reality stone” and “die” and she wasn’t quite sure what it all meant. Eventually Corka smiled, got out his grinder, and set some powder on the table and began snorting. He looked over at Serinepth and pointed at the pile. 

Instead of going up and taking a snort, Serinepth… refused. “No, I’m… I’m not feeling it this morning.” 

Corka squinted his eyes at her. “Are you okay? In the twenty years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you like this.” 

“Yeah!” She faked a laugh. “I’m good. Just not feeling it today, you feel?” 

“Fuck no I don’t,” Corka said as he took another snort. As he did, Serinepth could see Teb behind him, smiling mischievously. 

The radio that was playing the same song over and over again suddenly stopped. The record started skipping and jerking around. Corka sat up. “WHAT. THE. FUCK. GUARDS??” 

A group of rock people entered the room. “Yes, sir?” 

“What the fuck is going on?” Corka pointed to the record player. “What the fuck is this?” 

“Oh why, sir,” one of the rock men spoke up. “The record is probably warped and damaged after continuous use. This is just going to happen. We can try to get you a new one.” 

Corka huffed air out of his nose, stood up, went to the record player, grabbed the vinyl off of it and slapped it against the rock soldier’s head, shattering it into pieces. “FUCK YES YOU WILL. I WANT A NEW ONE ON MY DESK BY TOMORROW MORNING. AM I MAKING MYSELF ABSOLUTELY FUCKING CLEAR?” 

“Yes sir,” the rock people all said as they bowed and rushed out of the room. Serinepth just looked at the scene. She felt… weird about it. Why did she feel weird? He was always like this. It was just how he was. 

She scooted her chair away from the table. “I think I need to take a walk.” 

Corka turned to her, a look of hurt in his eyes. “Oh. Okay.” 

Serinpeth began walking around, the sound of her heels making great echoes across the large and mostly empty castle. She made her way through the hallway, down the stairs, into the basement, where she saw a familiar looking girl still there in her cell, rubbing her forehead. 

“Oh, hey,” Veronica said, looking at her. 

“Hey.” Serinepth said softly. “Sorry it took me so long to visit again. I didn’t know if you wanted to see me again or not…” 

“What do you mean? You were just here yesterday.” She continued to rub around her forehead. Serinepth studied her face. It wasn’t a face she had always had. Veronica was very pretty, in a simple kind of way. To be honest, before she knew her true identity, Serinepth had a little crush on her. She was so cool and confident and nice and badass and was really good at makeup. Of course, once she knew, she couldn’t feel the same way. 

“Are you okay?” Serinepth pointed at Veronica’s forehead. 

“Hm? Oh yeah. Elrich was just here. Did some weird fucking thing to me. Not quite sure what it was yet.” 

“Elrich? Here?” Serinepth hadn’t thought about him in a while. Like, sure, Winsler and Veronica brought him up, but, like, she had other things to worry about besides him. 

“Yeah, fucking asshole.” Veronica gave a smug smile. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from Her Royal Fascist herself?” 

There was that attitude that Serinepth always hated. The thing that made her not want to be around Veronica for too long. “I just… wanted to talk.” 

She studied Serinepth’s face, squinting. “Are you okay, Serinepth?” 

“I’m….” Serinepth sat down, not caring about how the dirt from the dungeon jail would ruin her gown (she had several in her clothes room, so why worry about it?). “I’ve just been thinking about things.” 

“What type of things?” Veronica sat down criss cross applesauce and scooted closer to the bars. 

Serinepth let it stew in her mind for a bit before she felt comfortable saying it. “I think that Corka might be… not nice.” 

“Yeah, no shit. Did it really take you this many years to figure that out? I figured it out in five seconds, when he was beating the shit out of me.” 

“Well, I mean…” Serinepth trailed off. “Just because he’s… not nice… doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. And I’m sure he can get better.” 

“Bull fucking shit.” 

“Veronica, don’t act like there was a period of time where you weren’t nice.” 

Veronica was silent for a bit, just letting it stew over. “Look, I’m sorry. Can’t we just get over that?” 

“No.” Serinepth said this confidently. And then it all came ripping out, all the stuff she had hid inside her. “No. I got to watch as all of my universe died. I got to see the school I loved for years, that I had sworn to protect, torn apart by several bug versions of my old friend. I got to see all of the pain you put everyone through. Do you think that’s just a thing I can just casually get over?” 

Veronica huffed in for a bit. She was silent. “Look, that was a long time ago. I’ve changed since then.” 

“Oh yeah, I believe you. But what? Do you honestly think just being nice while still being a bitch to people is going to make up for all the hurt you caused? Everything you did to us?” 

“I brought you back to life! I tried to help save the train!” 

“Yes, and for what reason? Are you doing this out of the goodness of your heart or just because you want to keep your friends around?” Serinepth’s voice was louder, full of more pent up anger. “Tell me, if you weren’t friends with Mira, would you have even bothered bringing us back? Would you even have bothered trying to save the train? And yeah, cool, you brought us back to life. But at what cost? What happened to our train selves, huh? Did you think of that before you brought us over here and trapped us in these weird, foreign slightly older bodies? Look. Being a good person isn’t just doing the right thing just to keep your friends happy. It’s doing the right thing regardless of how everyone else views it.” 

Veronica looked down in her lap, holding her face with shame. “I’m trying as hard as I can, okay? I just… I don’t know… Fuck. I’m sorry for everything I put you through. I really am. I wish I could undo it but I can’t. And I’m trying to do good. I’m trying to save the universes. It’s why I want to get out of this jail cell so I can put a stop to Elrich and then we can all rest and go back to school and be friends again. So can you please just let me out of this fucking cell?” 

Serinepth sighed. “I don’t think I could do that. The Grand Emperor would be quite mad at me if I let you go.” 

“Well, if you think he’s such a good guy, why are you so afraid of what he’ll do to you?” Veronica said, almost in a snarl. “What the fuck does he even want with me, anyway?” 

“I don’t know…” Serinepth thought about it. “He doesn’t talk much about his plans. The only person he really shares things with is Teb.” 

“Oh yeah, I should mention, Teb is a friend of Elrich.” 

“Wait, really?” This took Serinepth aback. Sure, that info sounded kind of familiar, but also so distant…

“Yeah. And the two met up at some point. I think they’re plotting some bad shit.” 

Serinepth worked through her mind, trying to think of what that could be. “It’s possible. But I don’t know much about Teb other than he makes me feel very… skeevy. And that he’s encouraging Corka to go after the Earth Angel.” 

“The fuck is that?” 

“It’s some magical thing. Corka really wants it for… some reason. Relates to Cannon People shit.” 

Veronica reached out of the bars and walked Serinepth on the head. “You fucking dumbass!” 

“OW! What??” 

“That’s gotta be one of those god objects or whatever the fuck they’re called. And you’re going to let this fucking asshole have it?” 

Serinepth paused. “I… I mean…” 

“I need you to be honest with me, Sinderman. Do you honest to God think that Corka will do anything good with the Earth Angel?” 

“I… I….” Serinepth stood up. “I have to go. I’ll see what I can do to get you out of here.” 

Serinepth got out of the room, not turning around to look Veronica in the eyes. She made her way up the stair case and down the hallway. She was going to go back to her room and call on some servants to help her change when she was stopped instead by a rock guard. 

“Ma’am, there’s a visitor in your office,” the rock officer said. 

“A visitor?” Serinepth wondered. “Who is it?” 

“I don’t know. She won’t speak to me. Said she’ll only speak to you.” 

Serinepth thought about it for a second. “Fine. I’ll go there quickly. But tell my servants to have a new gown prepared for me when I’m done.” 

“Aye, Rockmistress.” The rock soldier bowed and retreated while Serinepth walked to her office. She opened the door, nervous as to what she’d find. Why was she nervous? It was just a visitor. 

She opened the door to see a slightly younger girl with short hair sitting in the chair at her desk, legs up in the gay sitting position. 

“Excuse me. Can I help you?” Serinepth asked. 

“Uhhh yeah. Hi Rock Snorter. Good to, like, see you again.” 

Serinepth paused. “I’m… I’m sorry. Do I know you?” 

“Yeaaaaaaah. Of course you know me. It’s me, Rat Licker.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh it’s her!


	70. lick it up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alyssa sent me a text congratulating me and Alec

“I’m sorry. I don’t… what?” Serinepth stumbled as she sat down at her desk. 

“Don’t, like, act like you don’t know me, babe.” The woman, who Serinepth guessed was called Rat Licker, said. 

“I’m sorry… I have no memory of ever meeting you.” 

“Wow, daaamn. Rude.” Rat Licker changed positions, still sitting with her foot in the chair. “Though not surprising. You were so totally fucked up whenever I met you.” 

Serinepth paused. “How many times have we met so far?” 

“I think this is like… the third or fourth time?” Rat Licker swayed in her seat a bit, as if vibing to music in her own head. “We’ve for sure, like, met a few times, Rock Snorter.” 

“Why do you keep calling me that?” 

“Because, like, that’s what you do. And it’s so much cooler than your actual name. It’s the same reason why people call me Rat Licker.” 

“... why do people call you Rat Licker?” 

“Because I lick rats. Like, duh.” 

“Oh, right.” Serinepth felt like a fool for some reason. Obviously this woman ate rats. Why wouldn’t she have? Wait. “So, uh, Ms. Licker, what can I help you with?” 

“No need to be so formal, babe,” Rat Licker smiled, resting her hands in her elbows and placing her elbows on the table. 

“Oh. I mean. Uh. Sorry.” Serinepth started blushing. “Why are you here, uh, Rat Licker?” 

“Ohhh yeah. Like, I found this and I thought you would be interested.” Rat Licker reached into her bag and pulled out something. Serinepth squinted at it. It seemed so familiar. Then it hit her. 

“That’s a piece of the Earth Angel!” 

“Yeah, I mean, like, I guess?” Rat Licker held it in her hand and waved it back and forward. “I don’t, like, quite get what it is? But I found it before your soldiers could and kept it hidden from them and then came here.” 

“Oh.” Serinepth paused. “Wait, why didn’t you just hand it to the soldiers?” 

  
“Because, like, I wanted bargaining. Like, you want this, right?” 

She thought about it. “Yes. I do.” 

“Then, like, I’ll give it to you? But only you. Because I trust you to honor this deal.” 

“What deal do you want?” 

“Like, stop sending soldiers to my village. They’re, like, really annoying and keep killing the vibe and also killing people.” 

That caught Serinepth by surprise. “What do you mean, ‘killing people?’” 

“I mean, like, the rock soldiers will kill anyone who they suspect is keeping the Earth Angel from them. It’s super super uncool.” 

“I….” Serinepth was shocked. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.” 

“How do you have no idea? Like, aren’t you the one who, like, sent them?” 

Was she? Oh Jesus. Was she? Is that what she was doing? Is that what she was signing off on? 

Serinepth put her head into her hand. “Oh Jesus. Oh fuck. Oh shit.” 

“Hey, like, don’t beat yourself up about it. You were pretty fucked up.” Rat Licker began gently patting Serinepth’s hair. “Do you, like, feel okay?” 

“No!” Serinepth sat up again. “I just… I don’t know what I’m doing! And I’m freaking out! And I’m worried that maybe I wasted my adult years and that maybe things in Patter aren’t that good and I feel like I lost my youth and I miss my friends and godddddddd” 

Serinepth slammed her head into the desk. Rat Licker began petting her once again. “Heyyy babe. Don’t take it too hard. Yeah, you’re like… old. But you still go forward and you still get things done. And you’re still tall and that’s cool. You still got it. You’re like a… a sexy lawnmower.” 

Serinepth leaned into her hand. “Thanks? I think?” 

“You’re welcome.” Rat Licker held up the uncut gem again. “So, like, are we good? Do we have a deal?” 

Serinepth sat up once more and held out her hand and shook Rat Licker’s. “You have it on my word. So long as I’m here, I will keep you and the rest of Patter protected.” 

Rat Licker shook her hand and then brought it in closer for a hug. “Like, thanks babe.” She handed the rock over to Serinepth, who put it in her purse that she kept in her office. . 

“Okay, so…” Serinepth trailed off. “Are we done here?” 

“I guess?” Rat Licker said. “Unless you wanna, like, get fucked up and make out.” 

Serinepth humored the idea for a second before shaking her head. “No. No I don’t feel like getting fucked up right now.” 

“Daaaaaaaaaaamn alright don’t become a fucking square.” Rat Licker took out a bottle of what looked like milk and began drinking it. Just then, a rock soldier walked on. 

“Hey!” Serinepth yelled. “I’m in a meeting. Don’t interrupt me!” 

“Sorry, Rockmistress,” the soldier said. “But you told me to let you know when Yelm came back.” 

Her heart started racing with joy and excitement. “Yelm is back??” 

She stood up and looked down at Rat Licker. “I’m sorry, I have to go take this. But I intend to keep my promise.” 

“Like, thankssssssssssssss babe.” 

Serinepth grabbed her purse and exited her office and followed the rock soldier, excited to finally get to see her old friend again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: please i hope i did rat licker justice i love her


	71. a question of ethics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Was Alyssa ever nice to me? Or did I just like that she kicked people’s ass for me?

Serinepth walked into Yelm’s office. Her heart was racing. It had been years. She had missed him. He was the first face she had ever seen in Patter, after all. And he made her feel so welcome. She might not have felt comfortable calling this place home if not for him. 

He was sitting in bed, facing away from her. 

“Yelm!” she yelled. “It’s so good to see you!” 

He turned around. Something was wrong. He looked… damaged. There were burn marks over his chest and skin, and one over his eye, the light from inside it dead. 

“Oh… Oh god.” Serinepth placed her purse on the counter and then rushed over to him. “What happened?” 

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.” Yelm chuckled. “Just ran into some difficulties is all.” 

“So…. was the mission… a failure?” 

“Well, depends on how you view it. We lost two men, but…” Yelm pointed to a bag on the counter across from him. “We got it.” 

“You did! Oh, praise Jesus!” Serinepth yelled, giving him a hug. “I’m sorry about your men, though.” 

Yelm sighed. “It’s okay. It was their fault, really. They underestimated her because she seemed like just a little girl.” 

Serinepth loosened her grip around the man. “Wait. You sent your soldiers to attack a little girl?” 

“Not a little girl!” Yelm said, with a bit of… malice in his voice? Serinepth had never heard that tone from him. “A vampire. A nasty creature. Strong creature. If I had known there would’ve been a vampire there, I would have planned differently. That was careless on my part.” 

Serinepth retreated even further. “Oh.” 

“Yeah. God, I can’t wait for the vampires to all be extinct. We did all we could with the No Blood initiative but it’s still taking so long.” 

“The No Blood initiative?” Serinepth was confused. 

“Oh right!” Yelm chuckled. “You were never told that, were you? Oh, it’s a really fun story. I can prep some cocoa and tell you all about it, if you wanna hear?” 

“Uh, sure?” Serinepth sat back in the bed as Yelm got up and went to his cocoa maker. 

“Right, so back when Corka and my sister seized power, there was one thing standing in the way, right? Vampires. And, y’know, well, vampires are super strong. Expecting us to be able to wipe them out, that would be… gosh, WAY too hard.” Yelm got out two mugs and chuckled. “So, we decided to go for the next best thing. We can’t take them out in combat, but we CAN take out their food supply.” 

A bad feeling rushed over Serinepth. “What exactly do you mean?” 

“Well, vampires feed on blood, right? And rock people don’t have blood anyway. So really, the solution was quite simple. If we could round up and kill every creature that had blood, eventually the vampires would be left without food and starve to death.” 

“You… you didn’t! You didn’t kill everyone, did you?” 

“Ah, you’re right, we didn’t. That would have been way too time consuming and messy. Nah, for those we didn’t kill right away, we set up camps for them and just let nature run its course. They would work for us too. They helped make the castle renovations, y’know. It was a delightful thing. I remember even taking the wife and kids to see the camps and gosh, they just had a lovely time.” 

Serinepth felt her heart sink. She didn’t know what to say. She was in such shock. Was this really the ground on which she ruled? 

Yelm went to place the cocoa mugs on the counter. He needed more counter space, so he tried to move her purse. “OOF. This thing is heavy! What you have in this thing here, rocks?” 

Serinepth gulped. “Actually…” 

Yelm looked at her strangely and it suddenly hit him. He dug through her purse and pulled out the uncut gem. “The… the earth angel!”

“Haha, yeah,” Serinepth said awkwardly.

“This is great!” Yelm yelled cheerfully. “With your piece and my piece and the piece Corka has already, that should be enough for him to do what he needs!” 

“Yeah…” Serinepth gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah. It’s, uh, great.” 

Yelm set the cocoa away and held up the rock. “Sorry for not finishing this. I know you were really missing my cocoa. But, look, we gotta make sure we tell the Grand Emperor right away.” 

Yelm went and walked towards the door, her purse and his bag in hand. Serinepth stood up behind him. 

She gulped. 

She held out her fingers and pointed it in the shape of a gun. 

She closed her eyes. 

“Scorching Ray.” 

She heard the spell hit three times and the thud of the rock body on the ground. She opened her eyes. Yelm was laying on the ground, still, with three wounds in his back. 

Serinepth grabbed his bag and placed it in her purse and nervously walked out of the room, checking both corners of the hallway and making sure the door was shut behind her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i would say rip yelm but honestly we don’t rip fascists


	72. taking care of business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: quarantine sucks. It’s os hard to keep track of time anymore

“GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” i screamed. 

Okay. Cool. Now I got that out of my system. I rubbed my temples. Okay, Mara. Okay. So this dummy little boy just stole your map to Pitter and went off on his own. Okay. Cool. Cool cool cool. 

I took a deep breath in. Okay. This isn’t the end. I’m sure I can find some other way to go to Pitter. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. 

I walked over to the other room. Integrity was still asleep, somehow. I was glad my yelling hadn’t woken her up. One because that would be rude, two because I don’t know if I can handle Integrity right now. I walked back into the main area. The two rock bodies were still on the ground. I began raiding through their pockets just to see if I could find anything. Nope, not really. Just a small locket. I opened it up to see a photo of a black rock elemental that was autographed from Corka. Freakin weird. 

Well. I knew that I didn’t want these two here. I mean, I didn’t want mom and dad to see them when they got back. But also it was just… weird to have dead bodies around? Super not cool. 

I picked up the two of them and dragged them out of the cave. I peeked outside. It was still nighttime. Good. So I can throw these out somewhere, like by the dumpster. It would give me some time to really reflect on this clusterheck of a day. 

I stuffed the two rock bodies by the dumpster. I made sure to throw a few bags of trash over them so that it wouldn’t be easy to find them or get suspicious. Not like anyone in Whatever would really care about dead rock soldiers. But, like, whatever. 

I started walking back to the cave, my hands in my pockets, thinking hard of what to do. Think, Mara, thi- 

“MEOW” 

Huh? 

In front of me, out of nowhere, was some weird gray cat thing. He (i guess, I don’t know) was huffing really heavily, out of breath. He was checking behind both his shoulders, frantically. 

“Oh thank god!” he said in his deep and weird voice. He stopped to catch his breath for a bit and then screamed and teleported away. 

Uh…. what was that? 

Just then, someone else appeared from a portal in front of me, though this person looked a lot different. She was old. Like, way older. At least 23 or something. And she had long blonde hair and fair skin. Well, except for some scars and claw marks on her face. She was dressed in all black, with black long boots and a long black cloak with a big pointy witches hat. She had a big rifle looking thing in her hand.

She huffed for a moment before turning to me. “Excuse me,” she said in her accent which sounded… posh European? “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a cat come through here, have you?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhh.” It took me a second to find the words. “Uh, I mean. Yeah. Yeah, I just did.” 

“Oh. Oh good.” She checked her watch on her wrist. “Damn. Universe hopping sure does leave you out of breath. I might just need to rest here for a bit.” 

She found a rock to sit on and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from one of the pouches on her belt. She took one out of the pack, placed in her mouth, and then fire came from her hand and she lit it. She looked over at me. “My bad, do you smoke?” 

“Uh, no?” I said. “I don’t even know what those are.” 

“Ah.” Then she gave me a look over once more. “Oh, wow, sorry. Of course you haven’t smoked. You’re much too young. How old are you exactly?” 

“Uh. 14?” Why did I phrase it like a question? And why was I talking to this person? Dad said not to talk to strangers. 

“14. Wow. I remember when I was 14.” She gave a chuckle. “That was almost a decade ago. What’s your name?” 

“Um. Mara.” Gosh, this was so awkward. “I’m sorry. Who are you?” 

“Why are you apologizing?” But then she gave a light laugh. “Ah, but now it’s my turn to apologize. Sorry. I can’t tell you that. I’m kind of trying to go on the downlow, if you catch my drift.” 

“Oh. I mean, I guess so.” 

She took a drag of her cigarette and puffed out air into the night sky. She looked around. “It’s late. What’s a girl like you doing out here alone?” 

“I’m a vampire. This is still early in the day for me.” 

“I see. Interesting.” The girl took another drag. “But still, this is a dangerous place. Where are your parents?” 

“Well….” I didn’t know why but I felt like I needed to just air everything out. “That’s the problem! My parents are in Pitter! And I need to find them because it’s an emergency because I think something bad is going to happen but I don’t know how to get to Pitter!” 

“Pitter…” She rubbed her chin. “I haven’t been there in a while.” 

“You’ve been to Pitter?” I asked, astonished. 

“Of course! Used to go there a lot to hang out with a friend of mine.” 

“So then…” I sat down on a rock next to her. “You can help me get into Pitter?” 

She sighed. “Sadly, not.” 

“What? Why?? It’s an emergency!” I yelled. 

“I’m sure it is!” she yelled. “But so is what I’m doing. And I don’t have enough time to do both. I’ve worked too hard to give up the chase now. Besides, I can’t go back to Pitter right now. My patron is there and I really don’t want to deal with that right now.” 

  
“Oh…” I looked down. I kind of felt like crying. Then I felt her hand ruffled my hair. 

“Aw, there there, kid. I’m sorry.” She looked down at me and smiled. “I hope you find your parents soon. Be blessed you still have them. I haven’t gotten to talk to my dad in years.” 

“Yeah… I guess so…” I twiddled my thumbs. 

She tossed her cigarette butt on the ground and used the heel of her boot to crush it. She stood up. “Anyways, I best be going. Don’t want him to get too far away from me. It was nice to meet you, Mara.” 

“Nice to meet you too, I guess.” I watched as she opened up another black portal and ran through it, gun in hand. 

That was really freaking weird. Whatever. I started walking back to the cave, still wondering what I was going to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aw, leave a review if you glad Mara got to have a convo with this strange woman


	73. what do we do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad still lets me wear his t-shirts sometimes and that’s cool

The first thing I heard when I got close to the cave was the sound of cabinet doors slamming. Nervous, I opened the front door as quickly as I could, just to see Integrity going through out kitchen. 

“Oh hey!” she said. “What’s up? You look tense.” 

“I just…. I thought… maybe they came ba- y’know what, nevermind.” I rubbed my temples and walked over to her. “What are you doing?” 

“Well, I was asleep. But then I got hungry. So my stomach woke me up. And now I’m looking for food.” She opened another cabinet door. “Which I can’t really seem to find. Most of the food y’all have here is blood.” 

“Uh, yeah?” 

“Well, that won’t do. I can’t drink blood. Don’t you all have chips or something?” 

“I….” I opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a bag. “Here. Here’s some crisps.” 

“Thanksssssss,” she said as she popped it open and began munching. “So how was Pitter? And where’s the kid?” 

“Well I didn’t get to GO to Pitter,” I huffed. “And to answer that next question, that little turd took the map and left for Pitter himself.” 

“Oh dip, that’s not good.” Integrity ate another crisp. “So now what?” 

I plopped myself down on the couch. “I DON’T KNOW! EVERYTHING IS SO HARD ALL THE TIME!” 

“You look stressed,” Integrity commented as she chewed. 

“Wow, really? You think?” 

Integrity put the bag of crisps down and walked into my parents’ bedroom and began opening things. 

I hopped off of the couch and stormed over. “What the heck do you think you’re doing??” 

She bent over to look inside the drawers of mom’s nightstand. “Well, you seem stressed. I know when I’m stressed the thing that helps me is some good old self care!” 

“Self care?” 

“Yeah! You know, self care. Makeup. Hair. Nails. Horn polishing, though I guess you don’t have to worry about that. Like a girl’s day!” 

“That’s… weird.” I stepped back. 

She stood back up again and began moving around. “What? Haven’t you ever had something like that before?” 

“No?” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, no.” 

“Doesn’t your mom help you out? Or maybe other girls your age?” 

“Mom is always too busy helping out. And there ARE no other girls my age.” 

“Oh, you poor thing.” Integrity walked over and ruffled my hair. “Now we HAVE to do it.” 

I straightened my hair back up. Why were people so insistent on messing with it today? “No. No way. Even if you find something, there is NO way I’m going through all of… THAT.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aww leave a review if you’re excited for self care day


	74. bonding time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec told me he loved me. I’ve left him on read

“Okay, now hold still, you don’t want to ruin the polish.” 

I rolled my eyes and worked harder to keep my wrists still. It was weird and strange. I watched as Integrity put the black polish we had found in mom’s bathroom medicine cabinet on my long and sharp nails. 

“I still can’t believe you haven’t done this before,” Integrity said, closing one of her eyes so she could get a better view of my fingers. “This is so fun!” 

“I guess that’s what you can call it, yeah,” I huffed. 

“Sooo.” She took the brush away and screwed it back onto the bottle. “While that dries, do you wanna gossip?” 

“I don’t know what that means.” 

“You know, gossip. Like shoot the shit. Talk about stuff.” 

“I... “ I would’ve rubbed my temples but I didn’t want to ruin my nails and have to have Integrity redo them. “Sure. Let’s go. What’re we talking about?” 

“Hm.” Integrity thought about it for a second. “Oh! Have any crushes on anyone?” 

“What? No? Why would I?” 

“Really? No boys you have feelings for?” 

“Nope.”

“Any girls you have feelings for?” 

I paused. “Is that a thing you can do?” 

“Oh yeah! For sure! I used to date a girl, actually.” 

“You? Dated someone?” 

“Yeah…” She trailed off, looking a bit sad. “She was… kind of a bitch, but… I don’t know. It was nice while it lasted.” 

“Oh.” This was awkward. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay!” She perked back up. “I just hope she’s doing okay, honestly. Can I brush your hair?” 

“Huh? Uh, sure.” I adjusted on the couch a bit so I was facing away from her, making sure to not touch my hands on anything. 

“Got any siblings or relatives or anything?” integrity asked as she took the brush and began running it through my hair. 

“Nah. Just my parents.” I paused for a second. “Uh, what about you?” 

“Oh, I mean parents, obviously. And a cousin. You’d like her. She’s about my age. We used to go to school together.” 

“Oh, lucky. I’ve never been to school.” 

“It’s sort of boring to be honest.” She kept brushing. “But it can be fun. Especially if you have cool friends to help keep it going.” 

“Yeah… that sounds nice…” I trailed off. Friends would be cool.

“Maybe you’ll get to meet them at some point!” Integrity was so cheerful. I didn’t quite get it. How did she do it? How was she so her? 

“Eh. Maybe.” Not sure why I would. I mean, not like I had any reason to hang out with Integrity once she left here. And the sooner she left, the better. I looked over to the things she had brought out and placed on the coffee table. I pointed a still wet finger at a pen looking thing. “What’s that?” 

“Hm?” Integrity looked over. “Oh! That’s an eyeliner pen. They’re cool! You can make cool cat eye stuff with it!” 

“Ohhh. I see.” I paused for a second and thought it over. “You don’t mind… y’know, just so we can try it out?” 

Integrity threw the brush across the room and picked up the pen and smiled. “Of course not! Turn around and be still!” 

I did as told and just sort of waited there while Integrity drew around my eye. It was really really hard not to blink and at one point Integrity said oops and got out a Q Tip and began to smear and then work again. Eventually she held a mirror up to me, “Ta-da!” 

I held the tiny mirror up to my face. I looked… cool? She had drawn a thick black line that had gone over my top lid. And then the line kept going though? In like this cool flick-y looking thing?? It looked… really cool!!” 

Integrity chuckled. “I see someone likes it.” 

I could feel my pale face turn red. “Yeah, I mean, it looks pretty cool.” I wiped some of the hair behind my face. “Do you... think we could try something else out?” 

“Hell yeah!” Integrity beamed. “I’m not as good as my ex or even Veronica but I can try. What do you want?” 

I scanned the contents of the table until I found a small black tube. I opened it up. It looked like some black lip thing? “Can we try this?” 

“Ooooh yaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!” Integrity squealed. “Let’s fuckin’ go! You are going to be so damn cute!” 

We kinda just… did that for a few hours. She just kept doing my face up with different things. It was… nice? DIfferent, at least. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked pretty cool, at least. I smiled and then grabbed a wet rag so I could take it off. 

I walked into the bedroom and opened my wardrobe. Integrity was already asleep, spread out on the bed, mouth open. She had left my poor attempts at drawing eyeliner on her so you could see the weird uneven lines under her lids. I chuckled. I grabbed my PJs out of my dresser and changed into them.

It was then I heard a bang coming from outside the front door. 

Oh no. Not again. 

I cautiously approached the front door, my nails out and ready, ready to attack if needed. I looked through the peephole, expecting more rock soldiers. But I didn’t see that. 

Instead I saw an old woman with blue skin standing in front of a purple cone shaped house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh i’m glad mara got some fun time! I’m glad something good is happening in the story


	75. how to deal with this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i finally texted alec back, saying that i loved him and i was so happy to be his girlfriend

The old woman knocked on the door. “Mara, dearie. Is that you? Can you let me in?” 

I just stood in front of the door, not sure what to do. What the heck? Who was she? What? 

“Mara!” she repeated. “Please. You can let me in. I can help you.” 

“My… my dad said not to talk to strangers!” I yelled through the door, hoping she could hear me. 

“Ah, yes, your father.” The woman’s voice got somber. “Shame. He’s in Pitter, is he not?” 

I paused. My heart sank. How did she….? “Uh. Maybe. I guess so.” 

The old lady shook her head. “That’s tragic… if only he knew…” 

“Knew? Knew what?” 

“About what’s going on. The real story. About what happened to his prized possession. About the danger it’s going to cause.” 

My breath got faster and faster. “And you know?” 

“Of course I do, dearie. I know lots of things.” I wasn’t looking but I could tell that the woman was smiling. “And more than anything, I just want to help out.” 

I couldn’t think of what to do. This was… not what I expected to deal with. “You… want to help me?” 

“Why, yes. Of course I do. I want to make sure everything is safe just as much as you do.” 

Oh geez. Geez geez geez. This was… a difficult situation. But… what other options do I have? Plus if Yelm and his dudes proved anything, it’s that if the situation gets messy, I can handle myself. I opened the door slightly. “You can come in.” 

“Great,” she said as she walked through. She was holding a basket that she then set down on the coffee table next to Mom’s makeup. “Those are baked goods. I take it you can’t eat them, but maybe someone else can?” 

“Right, yeah.” I paced back and forth across from her. “I’m sorry, can I just ask for your name?” 

“Oh, sure! Where are my manners?” the old woman took a seat on the couch. “I’ve been called many things, but the thing I most like to be called is Seltie.” 

“I see.” I sat down on the chair next to the coffee table. “And what exactly are you?” 

“A friend! A helper!” She smiled and then laughed. “Though if you want a better answer, I’m a witch.” 

“A witch? Like with magic and junk?” 

“Indeed. Like with magic and junk.” 

“Oh.” I twiddled my fingers. “Why are you here?” 

“I like to help people who need help.” She smiled. “And well, you do need help, do you not?” 

“How do you know what I need?” I asked. This lady was giving me the heeby jeebies. 

“I know lots of things, young girl. More than you can ever know.” 

I huffed and sat back in the chair. “Okay, yeah. I do need help. So what?” 

“So what?” Seltie laughed. “So I’m going to do what I can to help you. What is it exactly that you need?” 

“I need to get to Pitter.” I said, crossing my arms. “I need to meet up with my parents and tell them about the fact that the inquisition stole their stuff and might come back.” 

“Hm, yes. That is indeed important. So why don’t you just go to Pitter? It’s not THAT far of a walk.” 

“Because…” I sighed. “Because I’ve never been. And I need directions. And I had a map to get there but then this dragonborn kid took it.” 

“Ah, rough break, girl.” She put her hand on my knee and I shivered. “So what would you like me to do about it?” 

“I need to get to Pitter.” I said, crossing my arms. “I need to meet up with my parents and tell them about the fact that the inquisition stole their stuff and might come back.” 

“Hm, yes. That is indeed important. So why don’t you just go to Pitter? It’s not THAT far of a walk.” 

“Because…” I sighed. “Because I’ve never been. And I need directions. And I had a map to get there but then this dragonborn kid took it.” 

“Ah, rough break, girl.” She put her hand on my knee and I shivered. Something about this seemed… off. “So what would you like me to do about it?” 

  
  


“What can you do about it?” 

“Well, I could teach you the directions, for one thing. If that’s what you want.” 

“Are you serious??” I sat up again. “Like, give me another map?” 

“Oh, I could.” She smiled. “But what good would that be? If it got stolen or ripped up again, you’d be out of luck once more, and I don’t want that. The last thing I want.” 

“RIght… fair point…” I shook my head. “So what do you propose?” 

“Well what if I were to just, oh I don’t know, put the directions for how to get into Isathill in your head?” 

What the heck? “You can… do that?” 

“Sure can! Magic is capable of lots of things!” 

My heart jumped. “That… that would be great! Then I could go there whenever I want, with no hassle!” 

“Indeed.” She laughed. “Indeed.” 

I jumped up off of the chair. “Then yeah! If you can, I’d love that! Thank you!” 

“Now now, hold on, young girl.” She stood up and walked over to me. “Magic like this… it’s quite hard, you see? It takes a lot out of an old gal like me. I want to help you. But if we want this to be fair, you need to make it worth my while.” 

I froze. I looked over to her. “Do you want… money? Because I’m pretty broke, but maybe I can see if Dad has some stashed away in his dresser or something?” 

“No no, girl.” She shook her head. “Where I’m from, I have no use for money. No, what I really need is… well, your soul.” 

What the heck??” 

“My… my soul?” 

“Indeed.” She smiled a bit and put her hand on my shoulder. “Hey, now, I know it sounds scary. But it’s not as bad as you think. I can’t do anything to you beforehand.The only thing that happens is that, if you were to die, I would have your soul in my possession. And, I mean, you won’t really be using it then, would you?” 

My stomach hurt. This was… weird. This was scary… I mean, I like having control of my soul. But I really needed to find mom and dad. And maybe I could save Ax too, if I ran into him along the way. And I didn’t really have much other options, not without putting my life at risk. If I knew how to get in, I could save everybody. Plus, like, she’s right. It’s not like I’m actively using it and once I’m dead… so what? Vampires like me have long life spans anyway. Maybe I’ll out live her and get out of the deal.

I turned over to her. “Okay. I accept.” 

“Wonderful, deary. Now let me just…” She put her head on my forehead and then suddenly a burst of knowledge came through and I could see it. The tunnel. The one mom made under the Walls. It was so clear. I knew. I knew how to get there. 

I also felt a burning sensation in my wrist. I looked down. On my left wrist was what appeared to be a small S tattooed onto it. 

She retracted her hand. “Oh, don’t worry about that. That’s just a receipt. Just to make sure neither of us forget what transpired here.” 

I stared at it, suddenly a bit nervous. I looked over to her. “T-thank you.” 

“Of course, dearie! It was the least I could do!” She smiled and began walking towards the door. She opened it. “Now if you excuse me, I have a lot to do. A witch’s work is never done. Good luck on your quest, Mara! I'm glad I could get the time to pass by!” 

And with that, she closed the door and I could tell from the lack of purple light coming from the peephole that the house was gone too. I was left alone again with nothing but the basket of baked goods, the S tattoo on my wrist, and the knowledge of how to get to Isathill. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad Mara took the deal


	76. a dual fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: sorry i haven’t been writing as much. I just haven’t been motivated

Elrich was nervous. He wasn’t sure why. He had been down the halls of this train cart several times, maybe even hundreds. So why was he nervous? 

It was his first day passing through it as a teacher. That was probably the reason why. Who would’ve thought, little Raethran, after all those years would finally come back here? Then again, it seemed like the best career move, after all his lawyer stuff went… south. 

He straightened up his tie and looked around. It was amazing just how similar this place looked. Some things just never changed. Same brown walls, same red carpeting. Same candles lining the walls. This was the closest thing to home Elrich ever had and as much as he hated to admit it, he was glad to be back. 

He walked into the main cart. A set of tables were arranged in a big U formation and a bunch of teachers and professors were already sitting down. There were some that Elrich recognized from his tenure there. There were some, like the black dragon born man, that eluded him. And there was, of course, the infamous Conductor Underbough, who was looking at Elrich quite displeased. 

Elrich quickly rushed into an empty seat and sat down. “Sorry!” 

Underbough coughed. “Well, now that our new professor of psychics has arrived, I guess we can start!” He pulled out a large binder from under his table and set it down. “Right, so the new school year is very very exciting. Everyone is super hyped. But we need to make sure we keep things in line.” 

A bunch of the teachers nodded. Elrich looked at their faces once more, scanning everyone. They all looked so professional and like they knew what they were doing. Elrich wondered what that felt like. His eyes moved so quickly he almost passed over…

Her. 

He stopped and moved his head back. No. No, that couldn’t be her. But the more he looked at her, the more he saw it. Same black hair, same pointy ears, same red eyes and pale skin. She looked a bit older, yes, but not so much that he couldn’t identify her. 

Fidan. Wow. 

Underbough kept talking. “So with the addition of the new pre-gaming elective, students will be able to more effectively utilize time management skills and we fully trust Professor Yexim to oversee it and blah blah blah blah blah.” To be honest, Elrich stopped paying attention. Underbough could’ve been saying the most important thing in the world and it wouldn’t have penetrated Elrich’s head, who was too busy by the sight of his old friend. He kept looking at her for perhaps a moment too long. She turned her head away from the conductor and towards him. The two made eye contact and a wide grin crossed her face. He couldn’t help but smiled either. 

He turned away from her and tried to focus once again on the conductor. He was saying something about revising the playlist for the Monday night parties and that they’re partnering with a new liquor distributor after prohibition made legally obtaining alcohol a problem. Whatever. Elrich didn’t really care. He just pretended to doodle notes on his notebook. 

“Alright, meeting dismissed.” Underbough said after what felt like forever. “Please feel free to treat yourself to some complimentary vodka and cocaine.” 

All the teachers got out of their seats. Elrich began standing up and as he did, he felt a pair of arms behind him grip him in a tight hug.

“Raethran!” Fidan yelled. He turned around and looked at her. She was wearing a long black and red gown. He recognized it from his research. It was a classical vampire garb. 

“Fidan,” he hugged her back. “It’s so great to see you.” 

“You too!” She released her grip. “What are you doing here? I didn’t know you were teaching.” 

“Well, have to pay the bills somehow, right? Plus the psychics department saw that I would be a good fit for the job.” Elrich began walking with her towards the refreshment table. “I could say the same to you, though. Never expected you of all people to end up here.” 

She gave a chuckle. “Didn’t expect it either. But Underbough called me up and said he needed a diversity hire because they would get extra funding if they had the world’s first vampire teacher. I was going to say no but then he just kept adding 0s to the end of the check until I said yes.” 

“Amazing.” Elrich laughed. “Last I heard you were in Whatever. How’s that going? You were hanging out with Luna, right?” 

“Hm? Oh yeah, my sis is doing really well. She actually just had a daughter!” 

“Oh wow, that’s so good for her! Congrats!” The two of them reached the refreshment table. Various whiskey glasses and baggies of cocaine were arranged in a row. “Do you want anything?” Then he remembered. “Oh shit, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay!” She smiled and pulled a small flask of blood out of her bag and drank it. “But feel free to do some cocaine if you want to. I don’t care.” 

“Nah, I don’t do that stuff anymore.” He reached for a cup. “I will, however, take this.” 

Elrich chugged the drink in one gulp. Fidan laughed. “So what have you been up to?” she asked. 

“Oh, not much. Just, y’know… living.” 

“That’s good! How’s the wife?” 

“Dead.” 

“Oh…. oh god.” She hugged him once more. “I’m so sorry… I didn’t know…” 

“It’s okay…” Elrich grabbed another drink and chugged it. “It’s… hard. But she passed about a year ago.” 

“I can’t imagine how hard it’s been…” Fidan rubbed his shoulder. 

“Yeah… Delnys is the one really taking it hard. She’s having a hard time letting go. After… y’know... she started going through all of her mom’s old necromancy textbooks from when she studied here.” 

“Oh?” Fidan’s ears perked up. “Think she’ll get to go here one of these days?” 

“She really wants to.” 

Fidan studied his face. “That’s why you took the job, isn’t it?” 

Elrich smiled lightly. “Can’t get anything passed you, can it.” 

“You always were a sweet one..” Fidan took another drink. 

“Speaking of sweet, what’s Artis been up to?” 

Fidan got silent. “He’s still not talking to me.” 

“Oh.” Elrich felt awkward. “Is he still upset about…?” 

“He’s been feeling really guilty about all that happened. Y’know, with Teb and Dain and what not…” 

“Understandable…” It had been so long since then. He could never forget the face of his former ginger friend. He watched as the jeeds through the ginger kid into the back of the train and then sealed the door forever. He wondered if Teb was still back there. He wasn’t sure which was preferable, if Teb was alive in Beyond Zed or if he wasn’t. 

“Well, whatever. Fuck him.” She chugged another flask of blood. “He’s the one missing the great reunion, isn’t he?” 

A smile returned to Elrich. “Yeah. Yeah he is.” 

He took another drink. And then another. And the two of them kept drinking and drinking and drinking. Until finally, they ended back up in Fidan’s office. 

“Woaaaah,” Elrich said as he flipped the light on. 

“Yeah, right?” she giggled. “It’s way way better than my old cabin.” 

“Yeah, roomier too!” Elrich put his drink on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. “I need to get me one of these.” 

“You’ll get one!” Fidan crashed down beside him. “And you can put whatever you want in it!” 

Elrich thought about it. “Whatever I want…” 

She curled up her legs. “It’s just like the old times, isn’t it?” 

‘Yeah… Remember when we used to go to your cabin and read everyone’s stories from writing class?” 

“And make fun of them? Absolutely!” 

“It’s not my fault that Hode would always turn in her yaoi fan fic stories as school assignments! I reserve every right to make fun of them!” 

“Exactly!” She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s so great getting to see you again. I was worried about this school yeah, y’know?” 

“Yeah?” He looked down at her. 

“Yeah. I mean, it’s silly…. The great and terrifying Fidan, afraid of being a teacher.” 

“Hey.” He put his arm around her. “It’s not silly. I was scared to.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. Kids are really mean. And the last thing I want is for this job to kill me.” 

The two shared a laugh. She closed her eyes. “You haven’t changed a bit.” 

“Is that a good thing?” Elrich smirked. 

“Hmmm.” She sat up and looked at him playfully. “Maybe.” 

“Maybe?” He smiled, taking a sip of his drink. He wasn’t sure how many he had at this point but he felt…. Good. 

“Yeah maybe!” She giggled. “Depends on if you’re still as good at playing lyre.” 

“Oh is that what this is about? You want me to play for you?” 

“Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.” 

“You and your damn maybes.” Elrich got his lyre out of his suitcase, which he kept his lyre in for some reason. He began just strumming some random notes. As he did, Fidan rested her head in his lap. He tried not to let it affect his playing. 

He strummed the last string. “Sorry… I’m a bit rusty… and drunk…” 

She sat up and placed her hands on his. “No. It was beautiful. You’re really good.” 

He looked down at her hands. It was weird that hands so cold could warm him so. He looked back up at her. Their faces… were so close together. 

He leaned in. 

She leaned in. 

And they kissed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ooooh hooray! Leave a review if you’re a Eldan or Firich shipper!


	77. back to the bard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i miss her laugh and her smile and her jokes and the way she would be there for me whenever i was sad

Hi! My name is Mira Marchand and I’m 18 years old! I think! Time and age is weird! I’m a half elf bard, in case you couldn’t tell by the pointy ears and the fact that I always carry my lyre around with me. I used to be a student but both of the schools I went to got destroyed so I’m starting to think that’s not the right career path for me. 

I was also very scared! My best friend, Veronica, got arrested by the rock police, something I didn’t even realize was a thing? And she said I shouldn’t worry about it but, like, how can I not?? Not after all the weird stuff that’s been happening. 

We were back in Luna’s house. She was resting on a chair, with Fidan feeding her some blood to help her recover her wounds. Sapphire was on the floor, still shaken up and crying. And me, I was awkwardly sitting on the chair, third wheeling like a bitch. 

“So…” I finally spoke up. “What are we… y’know, going to do?” 

Fidan huffed. “I… I don’t know. Not sure what we can do.” 

I stood up out of my chair. “Well, we gotta do something! My best friend is missing and you guys seem to have a clear case of rock fascism!” 

Luna scoffed. “You think we don’t know that?” 

“I mean… no…. Obviously you do.” 

“We do what we can, Mira.” Fidan placed the bottle on the table and walked over to me. “It’s just… there’s a lot of stuff going on here. It makes it challenging.” 

“Yeah, but… we should still try!” I said. 

“You really think that… what, you and your friends could take down an entire empire?” 

“I don’t see why we couldn’t!” I stood up. “We’re a bunch of powerful kickass ladies! We can do whatever we need to!” 

“You’re not wrong…” Fidan continued wrapping the bandage over her sister’s arm. “I’m just a bit worried.” 

“About what?” I asked. 

“The Earth Angel.” 

“Oh. Right… do you know what that is?” 

“I know that if Teb is after it, it’s probably not a good thing.” 

“I take it you two have some history?” 

“Yeah. He’s a piece of shit.” Fidan finished the bandage and shook Luna’s hair. “I feel bad for him….” 

“I guess…” This was awkward… 

There was a knock on the door. 

Oh shit. 

That wasn’t good. 

“How many people are gonna knock on the dang door tonight?” Luna whined. 

Fidan stood up. “Get back, everyone. I’m going to check it out.” 

I walked forward. “I’ll help!” 

She pushed me behind. “No, Marchand. Stay back.” 

I pouted. What the hell? I was capable too. 

But whatever. Fidan walked cautiously to the front door and opened it and gasped. 

Standing there in the doorway was a familiar face. One I hadn’t seen in a while. It was…. Artis! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: yay he’s finally done with his trip! Leave a review if you’re glad Artis is back!


	78. mentor and pupil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i passed all my classes, somehow

“ARTIS!” I ran up and went to hug him. 

He looked down on me strangely. “I’m… sorry? Do I… know you?” Artis then looked up and saw his wife. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, love.” 

Fidan gave a light smile, despite herself. “Don’t mind her. She’s, uh… it’s a long story. What are you doing here, though?” 

Artis sighed. “There’s some things you need to know. Some stuff about Elrich and-” 

“Alternate realities and zombies and turning evil, yeah, don’t worry, we know already.” Fidan took his coat off of him. 

“Oh.” Artis looked awkwardly at me, probably because I was still hugging him. “Sorry, are you okay?” 

“Oh! I’m sorry!” I retracted my arms away. “It’s just… it’s been so long since I’ve gotten to see a real Artis!” 

“I’m…. not sure what you mean by that.” He walked over and sat down at the table. He looked over at Luna. “Hey there.” 

“Hey,” she said with a grimace. “Long time no see.” 

“Sorry. I’ve been busy. It takes me a week to get here. You understand, don’t you?” 

“Whatever.” Luna rolled her eyes. She gave him a hug. “Pitter misses you.” 

“I’ve missed it. You’ve been doing good on blood, right?” 

“Yeah. My boss has made sure of that.” 

“Good.” Artis said as Fidan sat down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her protectively. 

I sat down across from him. “I guess I should introduce myself. Hi! My name is Mira Marchand and I’m a level 6 half elf bard.” 

“You’re not the first person to introduce yourself to me like that…” Artis said in a low slur. 

“I’m not?” I thought about it for a second. “Wait. That means you’ve met someone else! Someone else like me!” 

“I have. Tiefling girl. Red ski-”

“INTEGRITY!” i yelled. Oh thank God she was okay. I was so focused on this whole situation I hadn’t even thought of what the others were doing. 

“Yeah I believe that was her name…” Artis trailed off. “It was her and that dragon born boy.” 

“Oh. Ax. Yeah.” 

Fidan turned to him. “Honey, where’s Mara?” 

“Don’t worry, she’s safe. I left her in charge of the two of them.” 

“You left our daughter alone with two strangers?” Fidan cocked a brow. 

“This was an emergency, dear. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t trust her. And them.” 

My heart warmed. “You trust us??” 

Artis raised his brow. “Should I not?” 

“No! I mean, yes! I’ve just… never had an Artis that trusted us before!” 

He sighed. “I take it you know about the two dead Artis’ apparently.” 

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.” I didn’t want to bring it up but I guess I didn’t have a choice. “But, like, the first time it was an honest mistake and like who doesn’t make a mistake every now and then, right? and the second time that was to help save the world.’ 

“Save the world? How so?” 

“Well, like, okay, we found out that if you kill someone who’s not from that universe, you create a reality emerald thingy, right? That’s what happened when the train exploded too. Well, we also found out that you can do it a second time to get another one so we did it with Pirate Artis, who I should add also volunteered for it so it really wasn’t my fault.” 

“I see. So did you save the day?” 

“Er, well, I mean. No? Because it turns out that if you create two reality emerald thingies in one universe, the universe can’t handle it and destroys itself.” 

Artis rubbed his temples. “I see. Okay. Go on.” 

“Teb was here,” FIdan said bluntly. 

Artis straightened up his back. “Teb?” 

“Yeah. He’s… working with Corka, apparently.” 

Artis sighed. “Fucking Teb…” 

I reached my hand across the table. “Sorry about that. It’s hard. I don’t know what I would do if I found out my school friend turned into a fascist or something. It would probably hurt a lot” 

“Thanks.” 

“Like, it’s such a betrayal. You must feel really shitty about it and I’m really sorry.” 

“Thank you.” 

“To see someone you love just… turn evil and break bad. Plus it’s Teb AND Elrich. That’s gotta be rough and I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now. Just know I’m with you, in solidarity, if you ever need to talk about anything.” 

He rubbed his temples. “Thank you, Ms. Marchand.” 

Fidan sighed. “Teb kept mentioning something called the Earth Angel. Do you know what that is?” 

Artis looked a bit shooken up. “So… he does know about it… fuck….” 

I gulped. “I take it...t hat’s a bad thing, right?” 

Artis nodded.

Fidan put her hand on his leg. “What are we going to do, dear?” 

He sighed. “We have to do what’s right.” 

“So we’re going to stop them??” I got really excited. “And rescue Veronica?” 

“Veronica?” Artis’ elf ears perked. 

“She’s a friend of theirs,” Fidan said. “Something is weird with her. Teb took her for Corka to see.” 

“I see.” Artis stood up. “Alright, well, we best get on the road.” 

“Hm?” I stood up. Fidan stood up behind me. 

“We’re going to Patter, right?” Artis turned around and looked at us with tired eyes. 

“Yeah!!” I said as I got out my lyre. “Don’t worry, Artis! I’ve got this covered!” 

Fidan turned around and looked at Luna. “You’re welcome to come with us if you want, sis.” 

Luna thought about it for a second and shook her head. “Nah. All this freedom fighting business… that was more your style. Besides… I want to stay here with Sapphire a bit more.” 

I looked over at the poor girl on the floor, still shaking, still crying. Poor thing… 

We opened the door and began walking out, Team FAM, ready to do what we needed to. And we kept walking towards the wall. 

There was lots of grass and crops and stuff which was cool to see. Lots of neat plants. There was also lots of bugs. Like at one point a huge flock of bees just flew past us?? That was weird. But whatever, the walk was nice otherwise! 

Until we were stopped by Yona and several rock soldiers. 

“Sorry, dearies, but you aren’t going any farther.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no!! This can’t be good, can it?


	79. pitter and bitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m so fucking scared

Yona walked around us. Her look was seriously super creepy and not cool. 

“Ms Marchund, it’s very disappointing to see you with these two.” Yona said. 

“Actually it’s Marchand. And also fuck you!” I yelled. 

“I take it you’re familiar with us,” Fidan said. 

“How could I not be? I have more eyes here than you think. I know that you two have been going in and out of Pitter for years. I just haven’t said anything because you’ve been keeping it on the downlow and been relatively troubleless.” 

“I take it that’s changed,” Artis said. 

“You’re not just leaving here, are you? You’re going to Patter? I heard that racket. I know that bastard Teb was here.” 

“Then shouldn’t you be mad too?” I yelled. “Like, Corka is sending people in and making your wall fucking pointless!” 

“I am very mad. But so what? If he wants to send people here to do his dumb Earth Angel project, so what?” She laughed. “I have enough resources and man power here to keep everyone safe. These non rock creatures, they’re dumb. They can’t take care of themselves. I built the wall to keep them protected from Corka’s target. The last thing I need to do is give him more reason to irritate him.” 

Fidan stepped forward. “But they’re not safe! Teb and the rest of the rock fuckers are still coming in here, still terrorizing your citizens. All you’re doing is keeping them trapped!” 

“And?” Yona said. “I rule Pitter. I decide what I get to do with it.” 

“You seem to be doing a bang up job at it,” Fidan said. “No wonder Corka likes you. You’re very much like him.” 

Yona slammed her foot on the ground. The earth shook. “DON’T. YOU. DARE. MENTION. THAT. NAME.” She huffed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it to happen this way. Guards, do what you can to them.” 

The two rock soldiers nodded and walked towards us, weapons and maces drawn. I held up my lyre, prepared to do any damage to them I could. But before I could, some rock girl stepped in front of us. 

“Mom! Stop!” the rock girl yelled. 

“Kat??” Yona yelled. “What are you doing here? Go home, it’s late!” 

“No mom!!” Kat yelled. Tbh I had forgotten about Kat but I’m glad she’s still here, I guess. “Ever since you left dad, you’ve been really weird! And it’s not cool!” 

“Honey…” Yona approached. “You have to understand, this is a delicate situation.” 

Kat stood still, holding her hands out. “I understand perfectly fine! All this time I thought you were the hero of the story, but now I’m thinking… you’re just a conductor underbough!” 

“Darling, that’s not real life. That’s just a dumb play. Step aside so I can do what I need to as leader.” 

Kat stood still. 

Yona sighed. “Okay fine, don’t hurt her too bad.” 

  
THe rock soldiers approached and knocked Kat to the side of the head with a mace, sending her flying into a nearby wooden stall. Fidan pounced up on the rock soldier and began attacking it, causing it to drop its mace. Artis picked it up and began swinging it at one of other rock soldiers. Meanwhile, I looked at Yona and played some notes, hoping to do thunderwave. However, it wasn’t very effective, as lightning isn’t good against rock types. 

The rock soldier threw Fidan off of him and into a field of crops. She spat out some dirt and stood up and prepared to rush over again. Several rock soldiers got onto Artis and began hitting him over and over again in the ribs, causing him to bend over. I cast sacred flame and shot some fire at Yona but she just scratched it off and began to walk towards me… only to be kicked in the face by a purple blur I could barely see. 

The blur stopped infront of me and I could see him. He was a… giant purple hedgehog wearing sneakers. He turned to me and gave a thumbs up and smiled. “Sorry to be late to the party! Usually I’m not so slow!” 

“Vergil!” Artis yelled. “What are you doing here?” 

“Well, I came by to say hi to Fidan but then I saw you three were having some trouble so I thought I would help!” The hedgehog who I guess was named Vergil smiled and whistled a bit. “Root newts! The time is now!” 

Suddenly, out of the trees several lizard creatures with tiny swords jumped on top of all the rock soldiers heads and began poking them repeatedly with the daggers. “For freedom!” they yelled in their tiny lizard voices. 

Fidan stood up and helped. “Vergil, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m glad you’re here.” 

“No sweat!” He did a little flip and breakdance move and posed. “So? What can I help you all with?” 

“We need to get out of here,” Artis said. “We need you to distract them so we can get under the wall and get to Patter.” 

“Oh I can do you one better!” Vergiil yelled. He reached into his furr as if it was a pocket and pulled out a bag full of… golden rings? He took one of the rings out and threw it into the air and suddenly the ring got big and a portal appeared. “One portal to Patter, coming up!” 

Fidan and Artis and I all looked at each other and then looked at the carnage of the root newts still attacking the rock soldiers. Some of them were getting beaten and bruised, the rock soldiers having taken advantage of them. One rock man tried to punch Vergil from behind but he quickly dodged it and flipped the guy over. 

“Go!” Vergil yelled. “We got this!” 

Artis grabbed Fidan’s hand and the two of them ran through the ring and suddenly they were gone. I gulped and walked closer to it. I decided to hold my breath as I walked through for some reason. I stepped through, not sure what it would feel like. 

The answer is it felt like nothing. 

One moment I was walking through a doorway in the night dirt of Pitter, and the next I was in a bright and sunny hallway of what looked like really super fancy looking castle. 

“Are we….?” I asked, catching my breath. 

“Yes.” Artis said, dusting some dirt off of his coat. “We’re in the grand castle of Patter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review if you’re glad Mira and the gang are finally out of Pitter!


	80. a chieftain protects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: hang in there, mason. You can do this. Keep your head up. Keep your goddam head up

ADVENTURE! DANGER! EXPLORATION! 

THESE ARE ALL THE DUTIES OF A CHIEFTAN, AND THAT WAS THE OATH I TOOK WHEN I BECAME CHIEFTAN 

Okay like not really but like in spirit it was

Being a leader is all about DANGER. It’s about putting yourself face first into the throw of things, no matter how scared or small you maybe 

Which i’m not small! I’m actually very tall for my age!

Not as tall as my ex fiance. I hope she is doing well. As soon as i was done on my current quest for my beloved, i will assign my club of men to find her and make sure she’s doing okay and also tell her that i’m breaking up with her and leaving her for a younger girl 

Women don’t mind when you do that, do they? 

Whatever!! I love mara artisan with all of my heart!! And as soon as i would return with her parents safely in tow behind me, i will give her my Lightmere chieftain medallain as a token of our love!! 

I wonder if her dad is a priest and could marry us right there on the spot. Wouldn’t that be cool as heck?? 

I held the silver necklace in my hand. It was in the shape of the town logo, a sun with burning rays around it. It was super cool! My grandfather gave it to me when i took the job of chieftain from him!! 

I looked edown at this map. Where was i?? Maybe exploring a continent that i iddn’t know too well with only a map and by yself was a bad idea….

HA! As if! 

This is just a test! Sure my feet hurt afte walking for, like, three hours, but that’s nothing! I’m cheiftan ax, and I can handle a long walk with the strength of the legs of my dragon ancestors!! 

My tummy growled. I did want a snack though. Back hope when i was done with a long day of chieftain-ing, i’d go home and mom would cook me some mac and cheese and it would be so good! I could really go with some right now. Maybe mara’s mom knows how to make some?? Like idk i know she’s a vampire but maybe vampire moms learn this things too? 

I was surprised i didn’t see anyone out here, though. I didn’t see much of anything. Just a lot of rocks and rocks. It was like a big sea of gray. If i turned around, i could see a great big city and a castle that penetrated the sky. According to the map, this was called “Patter.” Weird. I wonder if people get the two cities confused?? 

Idk. just keep pressing forward, Ax! You got this!! You’re the man!! 

Just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep

Wait

Those gray things in the sky that looked like walls… 

I thinkt theyr’e walls!! 

I looked at the map. Adn then looked up. And then looked back at the map. I found it!! I found Pitter!! 

Gosh darn, Ax, you never cease to impress me!! 

Okay, now if this map was correct, there was a secret hole dug up years ago that you can access by opening the hatch. Wow, hatches are cool. I remember my grandpa telling me that every good story needs a hatch

I found the small wooden door on the bottom of the floor. I wouldn’t have seen it because it was covered up by rocks. But thankfully using my super strong strength, i picked the rocks up and moved them out of the way. 

I opened the door and began looking to see if i could find a ladder or a rope or something. I didn’t want to just jump into a pit without looking! When you’re chieftain, you have to be mindful of this stuf! 

Thankfully there was a rope tied to a hook in teh wall so i used the sleevies on my shirt and grabbed the rope and then slid down. 

Wow! It was dark down here!! 

I got out my standard issue flashlight they give all chieftains. On the side of it, it said “Lightmere? Light here!” it was super cool and it helped me see! 

I walked through the dark brown and muddy tunnels. It was super scary tbh. But actually it wasn’t because i’m brave as heck and don’t get scared!! 

After walking for what felt like MINUTES, i finally found what I was looking for: a ladder!! ANd if you climbed up the ladder, you coild see another hatch door. I put my flashlight in my mouth and then climbed uo the ladder and opened the door and looked around. 

I was behind some bushes that were as tall as me!! Oooh good thinking, this would keep me hidden! I could hear some noise, though, so I peaked my head out from the bushes. There was some giant ring in the air!! And standing near it was a bunch of rock people and moving around them was some purple blur?? 

ANd then the ring went away!! Like magic!! And the purple blur knocked over the rock people, who were swinging their weapons wildly. There was also this knocked over rock girl on the ground, next to the bushes. I went to check up on her. I put my hand on her neck. Okay cool! She was breathing! But she did have a pretty meaty head wound. 

Suddenly the purple blur moved and came over to… me??? aNd he stopped. And I saw… something magical. 

It was a hedgehog, about my size, purple with awesome shoes and glvoves. ANd he had a cool voice! He told me, “hey kid?? What’re you doing here?? It’s not safe!” 

Then he picked me up and we moved super super fast like I could barely tell what was happening and then he stopped and we were in a whole other place!! WOAHHHHH it was like a plane but furry 

“There you go kid!” the hedgehog said. “Now! Stay out of danger!” 

“But mr. Hedgehog!” i said. “I am the danger!!” 

The hedgehog laughed. He placed a bag of rings in his furr pocket. “Hah. You got spirit. What’s your name, kid?” 

“My name is Ax and I’m chieftain of Lightmere!” 

“Cool! My name’s Vergil the Hedgehog!” he gave me a thumbs up and did a breakdance. 

He was so flippin cool

“Vergil! I need help! I’m looking for two people named Mom and Dad Artisan!” 

Vergil rubbed her chin. “Hm. Don’t know anyone named mom and dad. But I do know Artisans! They were here!” 

“Heck yeah!” Mara would be so happy when she found out. 

“But… they just left.” Vergile said. 

“Oh… darn…” I said, looking down. “Where did they go?” 

“PAtter! I took them there myself with my rings!” 

“Oh… I need to go there too!” I yelled. 

“Woah, that’s dangerous for a kid like you!” Vergil said. “Plus these rings are valuable. I can’t just use them for everybody! Nothing personal, kid!” 

“Oh…” I looked down, feeling a bit sad. 

“But I can run you there!” Vergil said, breakdancing once more. 

“You can??” I perked up. 

“Yeah!! I’m super super fast! I can get you there in no time!” 

“Woah! Thanks, Mr. The Hedgehog!” 

“No problem, k-” But then Vergil stopped talking. I wasn’t sure why. But then i realized the lighting changed. I looked up. 

There was something in the sky?? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: good for ax! He completed his quest!


	81. hey soul sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: my iphone said i was running low on storage so i went to delete old photos and found a bunch of them with alyssa and i. I didn’t delete them

I woke up and yawned. I was still in my PJs. I wasn’t used to things being so… quiet in the cave. Usually dad or mom would be awake and moving about. 

  
But I guess this meant Integrity wasn’t awake either. That was good. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t not like her…. But I also didn’t like the idea of her being awake before me. Plus this gave me some private time. 

I walked into the kitchen and got out the bucket of blood dad left. There was still a fair bit left. I stuck a up in it and scooped up some and then took a sip. Breakfast was nice. This was nice. As I bought the cup up to my mouth, I was reminded of the S on my wrist. 

That was… annoying. Mom and dad will probably be mad when they realize I got a tattoo. Maybe I can use some of the makeup tricks I’ve learned from Integrity to cover it up?? That would be super super cool. 

Speak of the devil (was it okay to call her a devil? I don’t know), Integrity had stumbled out of the guest room, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a pair of my mom’s PJ’s and they looked huge on her. It was honestly kinda funny. 

She yawned. “Hey Mara. What’s up?” 

“Oh hey!” I smiled and took a sip of blood. “Oh, sorry. I’m just, uh… having breakfast. Did you… did you want something?” 

“That sounds great!” Integrity said as she plopped herself down on the couch. She looked at the coffee table. “Oh sweet, pastries. You didn’t tell me you knew how to bake!” 

“Oh, uh, there were a gift!” 

“I see.” Integrity leaned over and picked one up and put it into her mouth. Almost as soon as she started chewing, she spat it out. “EW! That’s gross as shit!” 

“Is it??” I approached her, concerned. “Oh geez, I”m sorry. I can’t eat it so I couldn’t taste test it before hand.” 

“It takes like… like… cinnamon deer!” She shivered in disgust but then she froze up. It’s like I could see her whole body tense up, in a way I hadn’t seen her before. It was… alarming. “Where did you say you got these from again?” 

“Uhhhhhh. A friend.” That wasn’t technically a lie, was it? 

“Mara. What friend?” Integrity stood up. 

“Um, y’know, well.” I nervously played with my hair. Oh geez, this was… awkward. 

As I was doing that, Integrity grabbed my wrist and turned it over. She looked down at the S on my wrist. “Mara!” 

“What??” I pulled away from her and crossed my arms. 

“You didn’t!” 

“What??” 

“You made a deal with SELTIE?” 

I paused. “Is… is that bad?” 

She sighed. “YES! It’s bad! It’s very bad! That’s a dangerous and dumb thing to do!” 

“How do you know about Seltie?” 

“Because I made a deal with her too!” 

I gasped. “Really??” 

“Yes! It was all part of the Artis plan, and… UGH!” She picked up a pillow off of the couch and screamed into it in frustration. “What did you even do? What could you have possibly gotten from her??” 

I looked down at my feet. “Um. Instructions on how to get to Pitter.” I kicked my feet around. My eyes… felt weird…. Was I? No. No I wasn’t. No. Don’t let Integrity see this. She’ll make fun of you. 

But that was in vain. Sure enough, Integrity did see. And she approached over and gave me a hug. “Oh, you poor girl. It’ll be okay.” 

I fell into her arms. “You… you’re not mad at me, right?” 

She patted my back. “No. No I am. But I’m also just sorry you’re in this situation.” 

“I just… I want to help…” 

“I know. I know you too.” She tightened her hug. “That’s why I’m going to help you.” 

“You are?” 

She broke up the hug. “Of course! We can’t let the soul exchange be for nothing, right? Sometimes you do dumb things and you have to live with it and work around it.” 

“Yeah…” 

“SO!” Integrity ate another bite of pastry with visible disgust. “How about we eat breakfast, pack up, and then make a field trip down to Pitter?” 

I smiled. “Yeah. Yeah that sounds like a plan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aww i’m glad they worked it out


	82. red team out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dylan messaged me, asking wtf is going on with me. Idk what to say

“Ready?” I said, turning around. 

“Yep!” Integrity said as she gently closed the door behind her. 

“Good!” Then I stood there awkwardly. “Um, could you check outside the cave for me? I don’t want to risk it if it’s daytime and you’re the only non vampire here.” 

“No worries!” Integrity smiled and then walked outside. I waited there for a bit and then I heard her scream. “Oh my god!” 

“What??” I yelled, panicked. “Is everything okay??” 

“Yeah! It’s just the stars are really cool!” 

I sighed and walked out there. It was a perfect Isathill night sky. I looked up. “Have you never seen stars before?” 

“Nah. Why would I look at the sky when everything I wanna see is in front of me?” Integrity smiled. “Alright, girl, you know the way. Where are we going?” 

“Um.” I racked my brain. Okay. I know the route. Just gotta figure out how to use it. I pointed. “So we’re going to start walking that direction. Just follow me.” 

“Okay!” 

Integrity and I started walked forward into the darkness of night. It was kind of cool! I’ve never been this far away from the cave before. 

Okay the coolness started to drain a bit. 

Because after a while, we realized we were just walking in a straight line. 

“Sooo… this is boring.” Integrity said. 

“Yeah… you’re not wrong.” 

“Any games we can play to pass the time?” 

“Games?” 

“Yeah, games. Y’know. Like…. Truth or Dare. Or… Silvi Says. Or… Never have I ever.” 

I had no idea what she was talking about. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh it’s easy!” Integrity perked up. “So usually you play these with shots but we can just play it now without drinking. So we each hold up five fingers and then say ‘Never have I ever’ and then we finish the sentence with something we’ve never done, and if the other person’s done it, they put their finger down. If you run out of fingers, you lose.” 

“Ohhhh I get it.” I held out my hand. “Okay! Let’s play!” 

“Alright! I’ll start! Lemme think…” She stroked her chin. “Never have I ever…. Drank blood.” 

I put a finger down. “That was a cheap shot.” 

“Yeah, well, now you know how the game works. Your turn.” 

“Okay okay okay. Hmm… Never have I ever…. Gone to school!” 

Integrity put a finger down. “Okay, okay. You’re getting it. Let me think now… Never have I ever… BEES!” 

“Bees?” I questioned. And then I saw what she was talking about. A huge swarm of bees flew past us. Like, at least a hundred, if not a thousand. That was weird. 

“Huh. Wonder what that was about.” Integrity shrugged. “Oh well. Let’s continue! Never have I ever…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: bees


	83. bees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m so shaky all the time these days. I don’t feel right

WInsler yawned and stretched. That was a good nap nap. This hospital bed sure was comfortable, even if it wasn’t the most ideal situation to be in. Still, back in the farm at home he would fall asleep in giant hay stacks, so this was nothing. 

He looked down to see his trusty companion Mr. Wiggles, resting on his lap. Winsler smiled and gave his cat a little scritch on the ears and he could hear Wiggles purr. Gosh, cats were so great. 

He moved as gently as he could, trying to make sure to not wake up Mr. Wiggles. He set his feet on the floor. Walking was hard the first few days, but now that it’s been a week since his “shit outta him” beating, he could walk around. He walked up to the mirror across from him and looked at it. His face was healing nice. He could barely see the scars. He smiled. 

And then frowned. 

This certainly wasn’t an ideal situation. 

He couldn’t believe he was saying this, but he was really missing classes at Wild Cliff right now. 

He heard a tiny tap and looked around. It came near… the window? That was weird. 

Another tap. 

More taps. 

Winsler walked over and looked out the window and gasped. Outside were several bees, what might have been hundreds if not thousands of bees. 

“Ummmm,” Winsler stepped back. A bunch of bees formed together in one organized formation, forming the shape of a hand. They then moved in unison, forming a finger that clicked open the window’s lock and then swung it open. Several bees began to enter the hospital room and buzz around Winsler. 

They buzzed him up and down and then finally one slightly larger bee said. “Thizz iz him! He izz the one!” 

“Um, pardon, but I think y’all have the wrong person.” Winsler was scared. He had never been around this many bees before. 

“No we do not!” one of the bees yelled. 

“What’s going on here?? What do y’all want?” 

“We are the beez,” the first bee spoke up. “We are here becauzze we have heard of the murder of our king.” 

“Oh… yeah. I’m sorry about that.” WInsler said. He grabbed Mr. Wiggles and began petting him out of anxiety. 

“It izz truly tragic.” Another bee said. 

“Before he pazzed, he pazzed on his pheremonezz to his next heir,” The first bee said. “That person is you.” 

Winsler was confused. “Wait… does that mean…?” 

“Yezz. You are our new leader. Tell me, what izz your name?” 

“Um. Winsler Wallaby.” 

The first bee turned around. “All hail Winzzler Wallaby, Queen of the Beezz!” 

The rest of the bees yelled in unison. “ALL HAIL WINSLER WALLABY, QUEEN OF THE BEES.” 

“Um.” Winsler gulped. “I’m flattered for the position, honestly, but, uh… I don’t know what y’all be expectin me to do.” 

The first bee turned back to face Winsler. “Help uzz take back Patter.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: congrats to Winsler on his promotion!


	84. what the hell, dad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad asked me if i’m okay and it’s like what does that even me what do you think stop caring about me i can handle myself please just leave me alone just everybody leave me alone please please please

Serinepth walked away from Yelm’s room, nervously. Okay. So that was risky. She had just killed a person. Whatever. This wasn’t the first time. She killed plenty of the Raven monsters back in her universe. This was just like that. Just like that. Just like that. 

She ducked into a restroom and locked the door and caught her breath. 

She thought of the warm cocoa he brought her. How welcome he made her feel. How lovely his family was. And she started to feel really sad. Her eyes started watering up. But she shook her head. No. She had to keep focused. Yelm was a monster. His actions endangered so many people. He’s harmed so much. Politeness be damned, he was not good. 

She left the bathroom and kept power walking as much as she could. It was hard. The two rocks in her purse were very very heavy. She knew she had to do something. Corka couldn’t get his hands on these. She loved him, but… he couldn’t. 

But where to go? What to do? 

Okay, so first thing’s first. She’d get Winsler from the medical ward. He’s had years to heal by this point. He should be good to fight. Then they’d go to the prison and break Veronica out. Then she’d confront Corka with their help, see if she could talk sense into him. 

Yeah. Yeah, that was a good plan Serinepth. And he’d understand, right? He’d listen to you? Of course he would. Of course of course of course. 

“Rockmistress!” she heard a guard yell. 

It startled her. She was too focused to notice him approach her. “Um, sorry, what? What’s up?” 

“Where have you been? The Grand Emperor has been calling for you. You’re about to miss the execution.” 

Her heart froze. “The execution??” 

“Yes! Of Yelm’s murderer! Didn’t you hear about it? It’s been a month since it happened.” 

What the fuck?? 

What was going on here?? 

“Take me to the scene at once,” Serinpeth said. 

“Right, my lady.” The rock man bowed and began walking. Serinepth followed him until she was in the grand hall, an area that Corka rarely used. Several rock soldiers were in a circle around Corka, who was standing over a woman on the floor. As Serinepth got closer, she could see the woman on the floor. Her face was bloody and bruised, but there was no mistaking it: it was Rat Licker. 

“Heyyy babe,” she said, with a bloody and weak smile. 

“Ah, Serinpeth! Thank fuck you’re here!” Corka said, approaching her. “I was just seeing if this FUCKING BITCH would willingly admit to her crimes as her last words.” 

“Yo, I didn’t, like, kill your rock dude or whatever.” Rat Licker rolled her eyes. 

“BULL. FUCKING. SHIT.” Corka picked her by the collar and punched her in the face. Serinepth gasped. “THEN WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING HERE? YOU SHOW UP IN THE GODDAMN CASTLE AND THEN MY BROTHER IN LAW ENDS UP DEAD. PRETTY FUCKING CONVENIENT?” 

He kept swinging over and over again. Serinepth started to cry. She couldn’t take it anymore. “STOP!” 

Corka stopped, confused, and turned to her. “What? What’s wrong?” 

“Rat Licker didn’t kill Yelm.” 

“Then why the fuck was she here??” 

Serinepth sighed. “She was here… to see me.” 

Corka looked a bit shocked. “You know this bitch?” 

“I do. I think. I don’t know. But she came by in order to see me and give me something.” 

“I see.” Corka thought about it for a second and then punched Rat Licker once more. “That still doesn’t mean she didn’t fucking do it, though!!” 

“But she didn’t do it!!” Serinepth yelled as she dropped her purse with a thud and rushed over and grabbed his arm to keep him from swinging. “I did it.” 

Corka locked up. His other hand loosened its grip, causing Rat Licker to fall to the floor. “W-what?” 

“I did it. I killed Yelm.” 

Corka’s eyes watered. “Serinepth… why?” 

“Because….” She sighed. “Because he was a bad person! Because he committed war crimes! Because he tried to attack a child! He said some really bad things about this place. He said that Patter has done a lot of sick stuff. And… it’s not true, is it?” 

“What isn’t?” Corka said in a quiet voice. 

“The No Blood Initiative. It isn’t true, is it?” 

Corka smiled. “Oh yeah. That was really really fucking fun.” 

Serinepth started crying. “How could you??” 

Corka placed both of his hands on her. “Serinepth. I thought you of all people understood. Sometimes you have to be a bit mean. Sometimes you have to use a little force. It was for the best for everybody. You do what you can to protect them.” 

She pushed him away. “Get away from me. You’re a monster.” 

“Sir!” a familiar voice yelled. Serinepth turned around. Teb was on the ground, digging through her purse. He held up the two gems. “Look at what she had with her!” 

Corka gasped. He grabbed them away from Teb and held them in his hands. “The… The Earth Angel. What were you doing with them? 

“No doubt trying to question your rule,” Teb snarled as he hopped on Corka’s back and stroked his shoulders. “You saw what she did to Yelm. Probably wanted to do these to make sure you were next.” 

Corka looked at the two rocks and then looked back at Serinepth. She had never seen him look so… hurt. “All this time… I thought you were different from the rest. I thought you were better than this, Sinderman.” 

“I’m better than you.” She said, holding her head high despite her tears. 

Corka used his arm to wipe tears from his eyes. “Whack her.” 

Suddenly two rock soldiers grabbed Serinepth from behind and another punched her on the side of the head. 

Corka continued to stare at the gems. Only at the gems. “Put her in a room. Lock her in. Don’t hurt her too bad. And prep everything else. We’re proceeding with the next step of the plan.” 

“Yes, sir,” one of the rock soldiers said as they whacked Serinepth across the head one more time and dragged her away. As she was leaving, she could see Corka and Teb left alone in the room, looking at the gems more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no :< poor serinepth


	85. modern wartime solutions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i love alec so much. I wanna kiss him and hold his hand and have him call me his

Serinepth could barely tell where they were taking her. Despite living in this castle for the last seven years, the blows to her head was making it hard to distinguish anything that was going on. Her vision was blurry. All the hallways looked similar. She sighed. She wasn’t sure what hurt more, her head or her heart. 

How had she let this happen? How had she not seen? Why had she been so fucking distracted for years? 

She began to cry again. She couldn’t even rub her eyes to take the tears away, so they just filled up. With her eyeliner and mascara, it actually started to burn a bit which just made her cry more. 

She was just taken down the same hallways. She could barely see anything to distinguish them. Sure, out of the corner of her eyes she could see a dark feminine figure and two taller pale people with dark hair, but she couldn’t make out what exactly they were. God, her eyes hurt. 

Her ears were fine though. She heard a familiar high pitch voice in the distance yell. “Serinepth?” 

Suddenly the two rock soldiers next to her fell to the ground and, since they were holding Serinepth up, so did she. She rubbed her eyes, finally, and looked around. The two rock soldiers had burn marks in their back and there was a dark haired elf woman who looked kinda familiar on top of one of their necks. 

“Um. What?” Serinepth asked, looking around. And then she was hugged by the dark figure she saw earlier. 

“Serinepth! the figure yelled. “I missed you so much!” 

Finally it hit her. She remembered exactly who this was. She returned the hug. “Mira!” 

Serinepth released the hug and looked at her old friend. She looked just the same as she had remembered… exactly the same. That was odd. She still looked 19. She was just… a kid. “What are you doing here?” 

“We came here to rescue Veronica and save the day!” Mira yelled. She squinted her eyes. “Something looks different about you. Like you’re… somehow even taller.” 

A male dark haired figure coughed awkwardly and held out his hand. “Sorry you fell over, ma’am. Our mistake. Are you okay?” 

“Yes, thank you very much,” Serinpeth said, taking his hand and standing up. She dusted herself off and got a better look at him. “Artis!” 

“You know me too?” 

“Yes! We had a version of you back at Wild Cliff!” 

“Oh.” Artis said. “I take it you were one of the professors?” 

Serinepth giggled. “Nah, headmistress. And who is this?” 

“Fidan.” The black haired woman said. “What’s going on here?” 

“Corka has all of the pieces he needs of the Earth Angel,” Serinepth said. “He’s going to do something with it soon. I don’t know what but it’s something not good.” 

“So what can we do to stop it?” Artis said. 

Mira spoke up. “Well I’m sure we can come up with a plan! We just gotta g-”

“Mira! Not now!” Serinepth yelled. “The adults are talking.”

“Sorry…” Mira looked down. 

“Anyway,” Serinpeth said, taking a deep breath. “If I know Corka, he likes to hang out on the roof a lot. If he’s planning something, it’ll probably be there.” 

“Great,” Fidan cracked her neck. “So we just go on the roof and jump him.” 

“That’s going to be hard.” Serinepth looked down. “Even if he doesn’t have a massive army with him, by himself, he’s very strong and capable. We’d have to distract him and get the drop on him. Or out number him. And I don’t know if our numbers are enough.” 

Suddenly they all heard buzzing. They looked around, confused, trying to figure out what was going on. Then a small gnome boy in a cowboy hat and long coat came up. He was surrounded by a lot of bees. 

“Winsler!” Mira yelled as she rushed up to hug him, making sure not to hit any bees. 

“Mira! Howdy!” Winsler returned the hug and then backed away slightly. 

“Um, Winsler,” Serinepth pointed. “What’re those?” 

“Oh, uh…. So I think I’m Queen of the Bees now?” 

“I see…” Serinepth turned her attention back to the others. “So… I think things just got a bit more interesting.” 

“What do you mean?” Artis raised a brow. 

“I have a plan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what could she be cooking up? Hit next chapter to figure it out!


	86. holiday in handcuffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: once again, people are asking me about my birthday. Idk what i want. I want my mom back home.

FUCK being in prison fucking sucks, let me tell ya. 

I had been here for about a week now and I had gotten used to the routine. Sit around, wait for Corka to show up and beat the shit out of me, then Corka shows up and beats the shit out of me, and then he leaves, and then I heal up and then I eventually fall asleep and the cycle repeats itself. Honestly, shit sucks. It would make me cry if that was something i did. 

I would sometimes ask myself, “Veronica, is this karma? Is this punishment for all the bad shit you did?” 

And you know what? 

Fucking maybe idk I don’t know much about that philosophy shit 

I still wasn’t sure what Elrich did to me, which was worrying. I could still heal myself at least, which was good. But I hadn’t been able to test anything else. With me still being handcuffed, I didn’t have much opportunity. Couldn’t even more my hand to do magic or anything. 

But whatever. I’m a bad ass bitch. I’m sure I can find some way out of this. Any day now. Any moment. 

Like today, when Corka came down, I knew I would be able to get the drop on him and escape. 

Yeah. Fuck yeah. You got this, Veronica. And then you could go rescue Mira and then slap Serinepth across the face. 

I was just chilling, imagining what it as going to be like as I gave Mira a hug and then slapped that tall human girl when the prison gate opened. I looked up to see Corka there. 

“You’re here early.” I said, with a scowl. “Then again, time is fucked these days so maybe you’re on time.I take it you’re ready to beat the shit out of me again?” 

Corka just smiled and punched me in the stomach. “You have quite a mouth on you. I’ll miss that about you. But no, there’s going to be a slight change of plans today.” Then Corka kneeled over, picked me up, and slung me over the shoulder. 

I began kicking him as much as I could. “What the fuck dude?? Let me go!” I also tried to wriggle my way out of him like a worm but it didn’t really work. His grip was weirdly strong. He kept carrying me up, up the stairs and into the main castle area and then up another stack of stairs and then we were on the roof. He threw me against the small stone wall that fenced the edge of the roof. 

“What the fuck??” I yelled.

“You can jump off if you want. We both know it won’t actually kill you.” Corka smiled at me and grabbed a cloth out from his desk and wiped blood off of his stone hands. “You know why I like you, Veronica? No matter how much I beat the shit out of you, I never have to worry about you dying on me. And that’s really fucking great. Means I can play with you forever.” 

He sighed. “Sadly, that won’t be. Certain sacrifices have to be made.” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I squinted my eyes. 

“You know, my associate, Tebethy, told me a really interesting fact. Are you familiar with reality magic?” 

My body locked up. 

He smiled. “Oh. It seems like you are. Then you know how you get it, right? According to him, if you kill someone not from this universe, you obtain a reality object. Isn’t that just neat?” He leaned over me. “And you’re not from this universe, are you, Veronica?” 

“Fuck you!” I spat in his eye. “You said it yourself. You can’t kill me.” 

He wiped the spit off onto his finger and then licked it with his tongue. “You’re right. Not now I can’t, at least.” 

My heart froze. “What do you mean?” 

“Well.” He stood up and pointed to the horizon. “Once I get the Earth Angel in me and I’m done with my responsibilities, I’ll see what it can do to you.” 

“FUCK OFF!” I yelled, standing up, trying to punch him with my handcuffed fists but then he punched me again and sent me back to the wall. 

“You’re such a fucking brute, Veronica. It’s really not becoming of a woman like you.” 

Ow. That really fucking hurt. I tried to move but… it would take some time. Then I could go kick this man’s ass. 

“Now, any moment now, we can get sta-” Corka didn’t get to finish. He was too busy being distracted by a bee in his area. He swatted at it and got it. And then another bee appeared. And another and another. And soon he was swarmed by hundreds of bees. He began swatting at all of them as they used their stingers to try and penetrate his rock skin. I could tell they weren’t doing anything but annoying him, though. 

But then a blast of fire hit Corka in the side of his chest and he kneeled over. I looked over to see who it was. 

It was Serinepth, standing at the staircase, her hand pointed in a finger gun position. Behind her was Mira and Fidan and a dude who kind of looked like Pirate Artis but without the Pirate. 

And then emerging from below, on a platform of bees, was Winsler. 

“Alright!” Serinepth yelled. “It’s now or never! Attack!” 

And they all rushed in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oohh shit things are getting intense


	87. the rock man falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i saw in a journal advice thing to keep writing that you think everything will be okay and eventually you’ll believe it. I hope that works

Serinepth continued to hit Corka at the side with scorching ray while Mira was casting thunderblasts and him over and over and over again. Winsler was barking commanding orders at his bees and directing them where to go. Meanwhile, Fidan, trying to punch him up front. 

Artis, however, stayed back and pulled out… what was that? A fucking lute?? And he began to play a small melody and suddenly Mira seemed way more inspired than before. Her thunderwave seemed even stronger, more effective. 

Eventually Corka must’ve realized to ignore the bees because he began focusing on Fidan. He smacked her in the stomach, sending her flying right into Serinepth, who fell over and shot a firebolt in the sky.

The sight of Fidan knocked over must have enraged Artis as he got out a sword and rushed over to Corka and tried to stab him in the eye. Corka was too quick though and punched him in midair, sending him flying. 

Mira was no longer on the attack, now standing over FIdan and Artis, playing her lyre to cast cure wounds. This meant the only person who could attack them was Winsler, who was trying to direct hte bees. 

“Uhhh go north! GO left! Right?” 

I looked down at my handcuffs and tried to do what i could to break them. Strength. Magic. Anything. But nothing was working. Ugh. In times like these, I really missed my emerald powers. 

Wait. 

I could still heal. 

If i could get a blade, maybe I could cut my hands off? Then the cuffs would just slide off and my hands would probably regrow?? 

It was a risky plan, but all I had. 

Just had to find a blade… 

Artis had one, but he was currently swinging it, trying to dodge Corka’s attacks and hit him with it. Fidan and Serinepth were up now, their wounds healed. They both went back in, Serinepth shooting blasts and Fidan trying to pounce on Corka’s head. Mira kept playing music and COrka’s eyes looked glazed over for a second. Fidan landed on his head and grabbed it and started to try and snap his neck, but then the daze seemed to wear off and he pulled Fidan by the hair and threw her to the ground. 

I looked down at my cuffs and continued to try and break out of them. 

Come on come on come on. You can do this, Veronica. Fucking do it already. 

Just then the cuffs. They… began to glow a bright blue?? And then… they were gone, as if they didn’t exist. 

What the fuck? 

I could smell something bad next to me. I turned my head to see Zombie Elrich there, kneeled down, his hand out, his eyes glowing blue. 

“What’re you waiting for, Veronica?” he said in his cold voice. “Don’t you want to get over there and kick his ass?” 

I looked at him, unsure of what to make of this, before I shook my head. I stood up and held my hand out and a big wave of fire came out and smashed into Corka. 

Corka knocked over and fell to the ground, clearly surprised by the amount of ass I was kicking. Fuck yeah. 

Fidan and Artis and Mira looked over to me, as if noticing me for the first time. Their eyes grew wide. 

“Elrich?” Fidan and Artis said. 

“Veronica??” Mira said. 

But then, Corka got off the ground. He picked his desk up and threw it at me. Elrich phased out of the way so that it didn’t hit him because he actually had his reality powers and could do that shit. Meanwhile I just got a fucking desk to the face. Bitch. 

And as if to make matters worse, FIdan and Artis and Mira were so distracted that they didn’t notice the rock soldiers behind them hit them behind the head. They fell to the ground. The rock soldiers placed their feet over them, keeping them from getting up. 

ANother rock soldier came out with bug spray and sprayed at the bees, including the cloud of them WInsler was floating on. They all dispersed and fell and luckily Winsler was able to hang onto the side of the roof and pull himself up before he fell to the ground. That didn’t help, though, when the rock soldier threw him to the ground too. 

And then there was Serinepth, who was currently being held by Corka. Was he crying? “I loved you.” 

  
He threw Serinepth to the ground and the girl coughed up blood. 

Teb walked up from the stair case and observed the carnage around him. “Well, sir, looks like you’ve been busy.” 

“Not the fucking time, Teb!” Corka yelled. “Are they ready?” 

“Yes sir,” Teb smiled, as he held out three cut green gems and handed them to Corka. 

Corka smiled as he held them in his hands. “So great… so shiny… so pure…” 

He crushed the gems together in his fists and as he opened them, there were reduced to nothing but green powder. He took the power and dumped it into his nose. He closed his eyes, took a strong sniff, and yelled out. “WOOOF!” 

His entire being was… glowing. HIs eyes were bright green. You could see the green glow in between the veins of his rocks. He smiled. “This feels so fucking good. Y’all don’t even know.” He turned and looked at me. “Well, shit, maybe some of you do.” 

He walked around in a circle, as if hyping himself up. “WOO. Jesus, I feel like I could take on the world. FUCK.” He stopped and smiled. “Wanna see what I can do?” 

He held up his hand and a glowing green ball of energy formed. He looked at it. “It’s so fucking beautiful, isn’t it?” He took his eyes away from it and looked towards the horizon. “Let’s see how far it travels.” 

He held his hand back and did a full body throw, sending the green ball of energy floating through the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: content warning for the next few chapters. It’s going to get... very very dark


	88. oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: we just got a call from the hospital. She’s dead.

Okay so walking to Pitter was taking A LOT longer than I thought it would. 

Like, okay, I knew from when Mom and Dad would go there that it could take a while. But actually doing it? That just felt like a nightmare. It was so bad and hard. Ugh. 

At least I had Integrity here to keep me company. She was fun. We had finished playing Never Have I Ever and now we were just telling embarrassing stories about ourselves. 

Okay, I don’t have that many embarrassing stories, so it was mainly just Integrity. 

“And anyway, that’s how I got banned from the planning committee from bullying Bailey Blue too much.” 

“Well I mean, he does sound like…” 

“A prick?” Integrity said. 

I smiled. “Yeah. Sounds like a big prick.” 

We kept walking for a bit but then I stopped in my tracks. I had gotten so used to seeing the nothingness in front of me, it was a pleasant surprise to see something different. 

And I knew just what it was right away. 

The gray walls gave it away. Even if I didn’t have the knowledge of it that Seltie gave me, I would know about it from how mom talked about it. 

We were here. 

We were in Pitter. 

I could cry. 

“Integrity!!” I yelled, grabbing her sleeve. “That’s it!” 

“That’s it??” she questioned. “Oh my god! We did it!” 

“We did it!” I yelled. But then I calmed myself down. “Well, not yet we haven’t. We still have to get inside.” 

“Right! But you know how to do that, ri-” and then she stopped. And i was curious why. Until I realized the lighting of the sky changed. Everything was… green? 

Was that normal? I haven’t seen a green sky before but… I don’t know if that’s normal or not. 

I looked up. There was what looked to be a green ball flying through the sky. If I knew my math correctly, it was coming from the giant castle behind us. From Patter. And it was heading straight ahead of us. It was making an arc. It was… so weird… It was… approaching the ground! 

“MARA, GET DOWN!” Integrity said as she pushed me to the ground and shielded her body over me. But I could still see

The ball fell down past the walls of Pitter. And for a while there was nothing. And then there was a big bang. A giant cloud that almost looked like a mushroom penetrated the sky. The wind from the blowback was so bad I had to cover my eyes. It didn’t stop for a few minutes. My ears were ringing. Everything hurt. 

After a while, it calmed down. I wiped some dust off of my eyes and stood up. Instead of the impenetrable walls in front of me, there was nothing but ruins. 

Oh. 

Oh no. 

Mom and Dad….

They were in Pitter…

Mom…

Dad…. 

I ran forward. I ran as fast as I could. I thought I could hear Integirty yell behind me to wait up but I didn’t care. I needed to run as fast as I could. 

I needed to get there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry


	89. a burial for many

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: they say we’re not even allowed to have a funeral for her

I ran forward, climbing over the rubble of the wall. I looked around. This was… chaos. 

I’ve never seen such carnage in my life. 

Some buildings were standing, sure. A shack or two. A theater house of some kind. But… there wasn’t much. 

I walked around, trying to keep an eye out for anything i could. I don’t know what would be worse, if mom and dad were in a building or if they weren’t… 

I walked past the unmoving bodies of several rock soldiers, including one that looked like an older woman and one that looked like a younger woman. I crossed my arms and shivered. This was… this was… 

God. 

God no. 

I kept walking. I needed to find something, some sort of solace in this. Something I could do. 

I saw a piece of paper fly past my legs. I turn around and saw it as it floated in the breeze. My eyes widened. I knew what that was. That was the map. 

Oh. 

Oh no. 

I looked around. There’s no way. No way at all. No no no. 

But then I saw. 

Underneath the ruins of a bunch of wooden floorboards was the dragonborn kid. Ax. His body was still. His eyes were open. The necklace hung in the space under him. I took it from around his neck and placed it around mine and I began to cry and then I wiped the tears away. 

I don’t… I don’t…

Next to him was what looked like a purple hedgehog. That was that guy who visited dad. He gave him the thing. He’s the reason I came here. By his side was a baggy of little rings. Oh yeah. This was the thing that he used to teleport. 

I looked up at the horizon. I could see the castle in the distance. 

Patter. 

I took the bag of rings in my hand. And I examined them closely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Rip Kat Rip Vergil RIP Ax Rip Luna Rip Sapphire Rip Phillip Rip Pitter


	90. what did you do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: mom died before she could even learn my name

“What did you do??” i yelled as I looked at the mushroom cloud in the distance. “What the fuck did you do??” 

“I only did what was fucking needed Veronica!” Corka yelled. “God, it’s fucking beautiful!” 

“You fucking psycho…” Artis said, under his breath. 

It was hard to see, but FIdan was crying tears of blood. Poor woman… 

Mira was too. So was Serinepth. Everyone was stunned. 

Except for Teb, who was applauding. “Well done, sir, I knew you could do it!” 

“Heh, thanks,” Corka said, rubbing his fists. “That was way easier than I thought it would be.” 

“Yes, good job,” ELrich said, materializing himself again. “You did it just like I thought you would.” 

Corka turned around. “Who the fuck are you??” 

Teb stood on Corka’s shoulders again. “Oh, don’t worry! He’s an associate of mine!” 

“He is??” Corka squinted his eyes and approached Elrich, his fists glowing green. “Then why haven’t I heard of him??” 

“He was my source!” Teb yelled as he got down and stood in front of Elrich, keeping Corka from getting to him. “The one that told me about the reality stuff!” 

Corka relaxed a bit. “So can we trust him?” 

“You can.” Elrich said. 

“Hm. Fine. We’ll keep you around, especially after I take care of Veronica over here.” 

Corka turned to me and held up his hands which glowed with green energy. He put it into his stomach. “Now, let’s see how well you fucking blow up.” 

I’m not going to lie: it hurt like fuck. It hurt really bad. Like nothing I had felt before. 

It hurt so much that i wasn’t paying attention when a ring opened up in space above us and when a small pale redheaded girl fell down and landed on Corka’s back. She grasped his head and with one powerful swing, snapped his neck. 

Corka didn’t seem to notice it either. His last expression was one of shock and then he removed his hand from my stomach and fell over. Everyone looked around, stunned. Even Teb was speechless and sort of stammering about. The rock soldiers were so off guard that they didn’t see when Serinepth let off a few more scorching rays and knocked them over, dead. 

“Mara…?” Fidan said, looking at the red headed girl. 

Meanwhile, my eyes were on Corka’s corpse. The green energy that was in his body raised from it and went into mine. I could feel it enter and feel my body glow and shift and then it was back to normal. 

Well… I say normal. It just felt like…. 

Like I had one of my emerald powers back. 

We all stood up and looked at each other, not sure what to do next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: thank fuck Corka is dead


	91. A fateful reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: my birthday is coming up. She won’t see it. Fuck this. Fuck this fuck this fuck this fuck this

I was still looking my hands, shocked and concerned. 

What the fuck?? Just… what the fuck??? 

I tried to concentrate the energy i felt flowing through me into my hand and saw a small green ball of light form in my hand. I studied it and then blinked and it was gone. 

The redheaded girl, Mara I guess, was standing over Corka’s corpse, breathing heavily. She looked around, huffing and puffing. Her eyes got wide though as she saw Fidan and Artis. “M-mom? Dad?” 

She rushed up to hug them as tears started to form. The two embraced her tightly. “I-I-I-I thought you were dead…” she sobbed. 

“Well…” Elrich stood up and walked around Corka’s body. “This was certainly unexpected. And here I thought I was going to have to do that myself.” 

Teb laughed and hopped on Elrich’s shoulders. “Yeah. Makes things way easier for us.” 

“Indeed, old friend. It’s a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.” 

I thought about it for a second. Then it hit me. “You wanted to kill him so you could get the Earth Angel yourself, didn’t you?” 

Elrich smiled a bit and turned to me. “No. Actually, Veronica, all this time I was hoping you’d be the one to get it. I’m glad that happened, even if not in the way I planned.” 

What the fuck?? What was this dude talking about?? Wasn’t he trying to gather all of these fucking things for himself?? What the fuck is going on here?? 

“Elrich, what the fuck game are you playing??” I said as I approached him. “And what the fuck did you do to me in the prison cell?” 

“Do to you?” Elrich laughed. “I didn’t do anything to you. Like I said, I don’t really care about you.” He grinned once more. “Though I have to say, you make an excellent antenna.” 

“What the fuck does that even MEAN??” I yelled. “What the fuck is an antenna??” 

He just simply walked away and kneeled down in front of Artis and Fidan, who moved their eyes away from their daughter and looked at him with disdain. 

Artis spoke up first. “Elrich. Teb.” 

Elrich frowned. “Hello Artis. It’s been a while.” 

“What are we waiting for?” Teb said in Elrich’s ears. “Just kill them already and we can move on.” 

“Unlike you, old friend, I like to enjoy these types of moments.” Elrich moved his attention to Mara. He looked at her for a few moments before looking at Fidan. “Is this her?” 

Fidan gave no response, just looked at him with hatred in her eyes. 

Elrich stood back up and walked away. “You don’t have to say anything. I know her name already. Mara Artisan. A beautiful name. Which one of you picked it?” 

“What do you want, Elrich?” Fidan snarled. 

“I believe you know that already, don’t you? I can’t imagine you haven’t been filled in by now.” Elrich walked over to Winsler. “Isn’t there something you could be doing to help?” 

“Huh?” Winsler was stunned for a moment but then it hit him. He made a whistle noise and a bunch of bees came forward. “Um, go to Pitter and see if there’s any survivors.” 

“Aye aye, queen!” the bees yelled as they flew away. 

Mira used this time to run over to me and give me a hug. “Hey! Are you okay? Are you alright? You got a desk thrown at you.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. Physically, at least. Thanks.” 

Teb hopped off of Elrich’s shoulders and walked over to Fidan and Artis and Mara. “Well well well. Isn’t this a quaint little reunion? Did you miss me, Artisan? Or did you even think to look for me?” 

Artis sighed. “Teb, I tried to find you. I did. I spent all of my school time trying to find a way to sneak into Beyond Zed.” 

“Fat load of good that did ya.” 

“I found it, Teb. But you were gone.” 

“Yeah, no shit. Got out of there first chance I could.” Teb looked down at his hands. “It was costly, but I did it.” 

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Artis released his grip on Mara and stood up. “We can help you. We can save you.” 

“Trust me, he doesn’t deserve saving, “Serinepth spoke up, reminding us that she was in this scene. 

Teb just laughed. “Save me? You think I need saving? Everything is going great! I worked my way up, found ways to continue my investigations, and fuck, I was right! About the Heart and about everything else!” 

“Well then fine. Go. Leave us the fuck alone.” Fidan said. 

“He’s not leaving!” Serinepth stood up. “He deserves to be sentenced and punished for all the pain he’s caused Pitter.” 

“I’m not staying here.” Teb smiled. “I’m going with Elrich.” 

Teb turned to look at Zombie Elrich, who just stood there, silently. 

“Like hell you are!” I stood up, green energy filling my hands. “We’re stopping you right here, right now!” 

Teb fell over in a fit of laughter. “Ohhh that’s a good joke. Really good one.” 

Serinepth pulled out her finger guns. Mira gripped her lyre. Winsler arranged his bees in the shape of a gun. 

Teb stopped laughing, he looked around nervously. Suddenly he grabbed the small girl by her red hair and pulled her in front of him. “If any of you hurt me, I swear to god I’ll do i-” 

But before he could finish his sentence, we heard a snap and Teb was surrounded by a blue light, one that started at his hands and then began to engulf the entirety of his body. He let Mara go as he stepped back, panicked, his eye going in between Fidan and Artis and then to Elrich as the blue energy engulfed him and then he was gone, as if he was never even there to begin with. 

We all turned to Elrich, who was holding his hand out. He set it back down to his side. “Well, that went on for long enough.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip teb i guess


	92. a father’s battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i walked past dad’s room and i could hear him crying

I went over to Elrich and pushed him as hard as I could which I guess wasn’t very hard because he didn’t move. “What the fuck dude?? I thought you were teaming up with him. Whose side are you even fucking on??” 

He smiled at me. “Veronica, the fact that you even think of this as sides just shows me that you’re even more childish than I thought.” 

“FUCK OFF!” I took some green energy in my hand and thrusted it into his stomach. A tiny explosion happened in front of me and then Elrich’s upper half was gone, exploded. I stepped back, admiring my work. I smiled and turned to Artis and Fidan and Mara. “Oh, sorry. He was a friend of yours, right? I hope you don’t mind.” 

“Um. No. It’s fine.” Artis said, covering up Mara’s eyes. 

“Hey, Veronica!” Mira yelled. “You’re gonna want to look at this!” 

I turned around and saw lines of blue and black energy swiveling around Elrich’s body. As it did, piece by piece, Elrich’s upper body regrew, until finally he was standing there, as if nothing had even happened. He cracked his neck. “Alright, so where were we?” 

“What the fuck???” I screamed as I continued blasting him with green energy, to no effect. Every little explosion I did, Elrich just regrew and regrew. 

“I’m disappointed, Veronica. You should know better. I mean, a reality stone and necromancy magic are powerful things. You should have studied a bit harder before the train blew up, it seems.” 

“FUCK YOU!” I said as I kept blasting him with green energy. It didn’t do shit but make me feel good and tbh I needed that. 

“Please stop!” Mara said looking at me. “I… I don’t want to see that right now.” 

Elrich got down on his knees in front of her. “You saw the blast, didn’t you? I’m so sorry. A girl your age shouldn’t be forced to see such… things.” 

Elrich flicked his hand around and suddenly a blew glow engulfed all of us and we couldn’t move. Um…. what the fuck??? 

Well, I say everyone else, but there were two people who weren’t glowing: Mara and Fidan. 

Elrich stood back up again. “Now with everyone else out of the way, come on. I need to take you both with me.” 

“Fuck you!” Fidan yelled. “As if I’d want to be around you when you’re like… this!” 

“Fidan, you don’t have a choice. This world isn’t going to be around a lot longer and I would prefer to spend my last few days with my loved ones. I thought you of all people would sympathize.” Elrich grabbed Mara’s wrist. She began to fight back, try to flip him over or break his arm off, but it was no use. She could snap Corka’s neck but not Elrich? How strong was he now?? 

I tried as hard as I could to move but I couldn’t. Fucking hell. I forgot just how OP the reality emerald was. 

Though as if by some force, maybe just sheer anger, the blue glow around Artis shattered as he got out his blade and ran towards Elrich. “Get away from her!” 

Elrich just waved his hand in front of his face and suddenly the blade wasn’t in Artis’ hands anymore, but was rather floating in midair. The blade then impaled itself in Artis’ chest. He stumped backwards and reached forward, as if to try and grab the blade but as he did, the blade swung through, cutting off a few of Artis’ fingers. He fell back down and clutched his hand, trying to stop the bleeding. 

“Oh dear,” Elrich said. “I apologize. I hope those weren’t your playing fingers. You always were better at playing than I was.” 

“Artis!” FIdan yelled as she ran over towards him. 

“I’m sorry, love,” Elrich said, looming over the two, Mara still in his grip. “But if you don’t want me to hurt him anymore, you’ll come with me peacefully.” 

Fidan looked up. I’ve never seen her like this. That anger, that rage. It was the same type of look Pirate Fidan would give SWIM. This was some true fucking malice. 

“Fine.” Fidan sneered. “Let’s go.” 

“Excellent,” Elrich smiled. “You’ll like it in my universe. It’s like home.” 

“Fuck off.” Fidan gave Artis a kiss on the cheek and walked besides Elrich. He waved his hands and a blue portal appeared and then he lead them inside of it. The blue portal faded as he left, as did the blue smoke around us. We could move again. 

“Artis!” Winsler and Mira and Serinepth yelled as they ran towards their old mentor. He was eyes were flickering. He fell into their arms, passed out. 

“What do we do now…?” Mira said in a low voice as she looked up at me. 

I sighed. “I don’t fucking know. Find a way to kill that fucker.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you like the story and support trans rights


	93. welcome to finals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alyssa messaged me to say that she heard the news and she’s so sorry. I don’t wanna talk to herright now

“ALRIGHT FUCKERS, LISTEN UP!” Mi’ra yelled. “This is Finals and this is my first and last Finals and the last thing I want to do is fuck this up and die because that would fucking suck. So let’s get our heads out of our asses and do what we can to survive.” 

“Wow, great speech.” Iniquity sarcastically clapped. “Because what I was really planning on doing was dying.” 

“Oh suck my dick!” Mi’ra yelled. 

“With pleasure,” Inqiutiy said with a grin.

Mi’ra sighed. “Regardless, we should move forward and make our way to the center of exogul.” 

“What??” Winslayer yelled. “That’s fucking dumb.” 

“Yeah, for once I’m agreeing with him,” Iniquity added. “Why move? We can form a nice defensive spot here, last as long as we can, and if anyone fucks with us, we just take them out.” 

“Because, dipshit, that’s just waiting for someone to get the drop on us.” Mi’ra smiled. “Besides, I have it on good authority that going to the middle will yield us great advantage.” 

“God, you’re so fucking dum, Mi’ra.” Winslayer rolled his eyes and began to place some leaves and put them on the ground. 

“Um, excuse me,” I said, letting my voice be heard for the first time to remind people that i’m here because the last thing i want is for people to go ‘oh raven i forgot about her it’s been a long time since she’s been around is she even doing anything?’. 

Iniquity walked over to me and flicked me on the shoulder. “Oh? And what’s little miss useless Raven have to say?” 

“I’m not useless!” I yelled. “I have a higher body count than you! And also I think… maybe… we should stay here… just for the night. It’s thundering all around.” 

As I said that, a bolt of lighting came by and hit the tree and it caught on fire but then the rain took the fire out but then more lightning came and the tree caught on fire again and it just kept repeating itself over and over and like honestly?? Fuck this 

“Ugh, FINE” Mi’ra rolled her eyes. “We’ll set up a stuipd base here to stupidly just sit here and wait to be killed.” 

“Cool!” Iniquity yelled. “Then let’s get fucking started!!” 

Thankfully I had this cool new robot hand that i could use to pick up leaves which was way better than my hook because if I had that the leaves would have holes in them and that wouldn’t make for effective shelter. Eventually, over time, we were able to make a nice little makeshift thing out of sticks and leaves. 

“Alright, we’re gonna need food too, I reckon,” Winslayer said. 

“It’s exogul.” Iniquity said. “There is no food.” 

“Anything can be food if you try hard enough!” I said. “That’s what my adoptive dad taught me.” 

“Okay then fine, dipshit, go find food then.” Winslayer said. “I’m gonna scout out the area and make sure that nobody is near.” 

“Okay. Mi’ra, wanna come with?” I asked to my best friend, Mi’ra. 

“Uh, sure?” Mi’ra said, really confused. 

We started walking along the woods. It was a bit hard to see because of all the rain and lightning but thankfully my vampire powers gave me Dark Vision which is a stat on my character sheet I never really needed until now. 

“So Mi’ra-” 

“Fuck off.” Then she sighed. “Sorry, what?” 

“Um. What’s in the middle of the forest?” 

“Pardon?” 

“You said there was something in the middle of the forest that would give us a great advantage.” 

“Oh!’ Mi’ra perked up. “So okay, i’ll let you in on an insider secret. So my sisters took the finals exam before i did, right? And they told me that at the center of the forest is the legendary sith lightsaber from the old republic days! And ifyou use it, it can totally fucking kill anyonein, like, one hit.” 

“Woah really??” I was amazed. That sounded cool as fuck. 

“Yeah! It’sl like the swiss army knife of lightsabers. My older sister said she used it to win.” 

“Hot damn hell yeah.” I stroked my chin in though. “Okay so maybe we SHOULD go into the middle.” 

“Yeah no shit! That’s what I’ve been saying!” Mi’ra yelled. 

We kept walking until eventually i stopped her. “Hold up!” I yelled. 

“What?? Did you find something??” 

“Yes!” I kneeled over and looked at the sticky pool on the ground. I got a bottle out and began scooping it up and putting it into it. 

“What the fuck even is that?? Mi’ra yelled. 

I scooped some up on my finger and put it in my mouth. “It’s goop!” 

“Goop?” 

“Yeah goop!” I smiled. “Want some?” 

“Fuck no!” she yelled. “I don’t want to eat goop!” 

“But Mi’ra, what are friends for if not to eat goop with each other?” 

“Who said we were friends?” 

….

……..

“Oh.” I said. 

“Anyway, let’s get back to the rest with your… goop.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you would eat goop with raven


	94. a calm night’s rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: my phone keeps going off because alec and dylan keep messaging me and i want this to stop please make it stop please please please please

There i was, laying down in the rain, goop on my titties. I wasn’t allowed in the tent because they ran out of room but that’s fine because as a vampire i liked being outside at night anyway and with my darkvision, it made sense for me to keep guard. 

I did ask if we could make the leaf tent a bit bigger and then said nope and took a jar of goop in with them. Whatever. That’s cool. It’s fine. 

In the distance I could hear the sounds of screaming. Very very far away. I wouldn’t worry about it tbh. But it was certainly distracting. It had been like this for the last few days. Just us ,here in this camp, me outside, them lying down in the tent, the screams of murders and shit in the background. Like damn. 

Tbh i thought about trying to go to sleep but i still wasn’t feeling too good about sleeping. Either i would have the same dream again with the prophecy or I would have that weird force dream where it sounded like severepth screamed and the force was super upset but like whatev that was probably nothing

The prophecy though, that was the real cool shit. I hope that when all this is said and done i can find clone raven and take her to Isathill and then kill her and then it’ll all be good and safe and i can have my friends again and save the universe and damn that would be super super cool. 

I heard some ruffling in the trees. Um. That was weird. But probably just the wind, idk 

And then more ruffling. Eh. Probably the wind still. 

And then suddenly two figures jumped down from the trees with a double sided lightsaber in each hand and they swung down. Luckily I took out both of my light sabers and were able to deflect them as they came down. As hte light illuminated their faces, I could tell who they were: Devilika and Gorinna Lindmaul. The bitches. 

The two swung their double sabers in synchronization, the twin fucks. They were really good. Thankfully, I was also good and I was able to deflect their shit pretty effectively. It was hard since it was 4 against 2 but honestly like i can do it, I’m Raven Willow Blood Charm, I can do anything. 

Winslayer came out of the tent. “Raven, what the fuck??” And then he looked around. “OH! FUCK!” He grabbed his lightsaber and his gun and anyway he started blasted and he got Devilika on the shoulder and she turned around and went “Aye, what the fuck ye be doing?” Which was enough time for me to stab her through the chest. She fell to the ground with a thud. 

“YOU KILLED MY SISTER YOU FUCKS!” Gorinna yelled as she swung her lightsaber wildly, catching the leaves on fire. She began swinging her sword around and around and around and around and it was super hard to dodge because she was swinging it like a slightly less murderous flag girl and it was hard to dodge even with my two sabers and thankfully a lightsaber went through her head and she fell to the ground. As she did, I could see Iniquity put her saber away. 

“I KNEW IT! I FUCKING KNEW IT!” Mi’ra yelled as she got out of the tent. She started putting on this mocking sarcastic voice. “ _ Oh let’s stay here, it’s gonna be safer! We can just attack whoever comes here!  _ I’ll be taking my apologies here now, if you don’t mind.” 

“Fuck off, I was right!” Iniquity yelled. “They attacked us and we were able to kill them back in return!” 

“Only because Raven was awake!” Mi’ra yelled. 

I looked around awkwardly. “Um, yeah! Only because I was awake!” 

Winslayer rolled his eyes. “Well, thanks. Anyway, I think we don’t have a choice. Our tent caught on fire.” 

“We can just rebuild a new one!” Iniquity yelled. 

Lightning striked the ground again where the tent was. Iniquity jumped into my arms, afraid, before realizing what she did and stepping down. “Fine. Let’s move. But when we die, I get to come back as a ghost and haunt you all just to say I told you so.” 

“Whatever,” Mi’ra rolled her eyes. “Let’s go.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip the lindmaul twins


	95. a night in the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: just once iw ant to not suffer. Just once. Please

Walking around was fun! 

I mean it wasn’t really because of the super huge amount of lightning plus the rain plus the cold plus the constant fear that someone at any point in time could kill us but like whatever you gotta just keep on living, y’know? No matter how bad things get, keep your head up. 

Though… i couldn’t help but think

Evefryone here was… mean to me? 

Like super mean. Really mean. Really really really mean. And that kinda sucked. I wasn’t used to that. I used to be the most popular and well liked girl at school. Everyone loved me. And now it’s like… i’m the fuckin’ loser bitch baby. 

Idk

Maybe… maybe i’m not as good as i thought. 

It… sucked….. 

There was still the sound of screaming in the distance, barely audible over the sound of the rain andt he thunder. I wondered how many people were dying right now. How many of them were being hunted down. Poor things. 

Then again, they knew what they signed up for. 

I held my head high. 

Mi’ra was walking in front of us, her lyresaber out, She looked super defensive as she scoped the area. I walked up to her and whispered in her ear. “So your sisters found the ultimate saber thing?” 

“Hm? Mi’ra was a bit stunned. “Oh, no. Just the one sister. The other one she… she… Nevermind, Blood Charm. Stay in your own fucking lane.” 

“Oh… okay…” I walked away and hten over to Iniquity. “How’re you doing?” 

“No.” Iniquity said. 

“Ooookay.” I walked away. I kneeled down. “Hey Winslayer?” 

“What?” 

“Am I not… cool?” 

Winslayer sighed. “You’re not not cool. You’re just new and not cool. Don’t let everyone else get to you because they’re assholes.” 

“Oh… I guess that makes sense…” I looked down. I was about to keep walking forward when suddenly we found ourselves pushed back and up against the tree. 

A figure dropped down from the shadows. She stood over us with her characteristically devish grin.Her cloak which was probably black was stained with red from blood. She stood over us, her lightsabers in one hand and her other one outstretched, using the force to pin us to a tree. It was… Allenna Hellyfield. 

“You.” Mi’ra cursed. 

“Hello, Mi’ra,” Allenna smile.d “It’s a pleasure seeing you all here. I see your group stuck together. Rookie mistake.” 

“Nah it just means we’ll all team up to kick you ass!” I yelled. 

“Who gave this bitch permission to speak?” Allena asked, laughing. 

“Certainly not me.” Winslayer said. 

“Anyway, just stay right there and I can just take this lightsaber and stab you thrrouh the head. Is that cool? Cool.” 

“No! It’s not cool!” Iniquity yelled. “Soon as I get released from this force shit I’m shoving my lightsaber up your goddamn ass you baker ass bitch!” 

“Tough words, Idleberry.” She smiled. “I’m lucky I found you. Who knows how long we’ll be here? We’re going to need food.” 

“Woah what the fuck that’s super dark!” I yelled. “And I’m the only person here who actually is supposed to drink blood!” 

“God, Raven ,you’re so fucking annoying!” Allenna yelled. She walked up to me and began to stab me in the stomach with the lightsaber. It, uhhhhhh really fucking hurt. Why does everyone always attack me by going for my stomach?? 

But then I guess Mi’ra broke out of her force hold because she came over and stabbed Allenna in the side with her lyresaber. Allenna fell over, leaving one of her lightsabers in my stomach, which…. OW. 

I took the light saber out and placed it on my belt with my other two lightsabers. Meanwhile Allenna was standing over Mi’ra who she punched to the ground. She stood over her with her lightsaber and prepared to swing down. As she did, I could see something. Mi’ra was… crying??? 

“STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!” I yelled as I held out my hands and out of my finger tips came lightning. The lightning knocked ALlenna over and kept her on the ground. I got closer and closer and closer to her, continuing to shoot lightning untli her body was shrivled up and not moving anymore. She was dead. 

Good. 

Mi’ra stood up and wiped her eyes with her wrist. I gave her a thumbs up to see if she was okay but then she just flipped me off and said “we don’t speak of this. Ever.” 

The wound in my stomach still really fucking hurt. I leaned over Allena’s body. The blood on her cloak… it looked… so good. It’s been too long… I began to lick it, as much of it as I could, just trying to get some blood in my system. As I did, I could feel the wound heal and heal and then finally it was back to normal. 

I turned to see Iniquity looking at me, her eye twitching. “God, that’s so fucking weird. You’re a fucking weirdo.” 

“Whatever, loser.” I snapped back. 

She huffed and walked away. I looked at my fingers. 

I got it. My force lightning. I got it back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip allena


	96. ecin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i told dylan to stop talking to me right now

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?? 

I CAN DO FORCE LIGHTNING AGIAN?? 

I MEAN THAT’S SUPER FUCKING COOL BUT ALSO WHAT THE FUCK?? 

I HAD THIS ALL FIGURED OUT WITH SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. MY CLONE GOT FORCE LIGHTNING, I GOT MAGIC. SHE GOT THE STRAIGHT AND I GOT THE GAY. IT ALL MADE SENSE. IT WAS ALL SO SIMPLE. SO WHAT THE FUCK? 

“RAVEN. What the fuck are you doing?” Winslayer yelled. 

“None of your fucking business, asswipe!” I yelled. 

I had decided that being mean was the best course of action. If i’ve learned anything from mytime in wild sith, it’s that being the best sith lord you can be just means embracing your inner high school bitch. And honestly? Fuck yeah. 

“Walking suuuuuuuuuuucks,” Iniqutiy said. “God, can’t we just make another leaf house and live there?” 

“No,” Mi’ra said. “We’re going to the middle of the forest and we’re getting that ultimate lightsaber.” 

“What the fuck are you on about?” Iniquity yelled. 

Winslayer hopped up on my back. “Hey if we’re talking about lightsabers, can we talk about how bullshit it is that Raven has three lightsabers now?” 

“Kill 3 sithlords and maybe you’ll earn them.” I sneered. 

“Damn wtf.” Winslayer said. “... think it’s too late to go back and get the Lindmauls’ sabers?” 

“Winslayer, those are your size,” Mi’ra said. “If you tried to use them, you’d topple over.” 

“You realize that just makes me want them more, right?” 

Mi’ra rolled her eyes. I walked up to her. “Hey, you okay? I saw you crying.” 

“I  _ wasn’t  _ crying!’ she yelled defensively. “Sith lords don’t cry!” 

“Oh, right…” I said, holding my head up. “Sith lords don’t cry.” 

We ended up finally resting by a few trees where we hopefully wouldn’t get hit by lightning. I got out some goop and passed it around to everyone, who ate it kinda reluctantly but they ate it so character development I guess? 

We made another leaf tent, though this time I noticed it was a bit bigger than the last one. 

“Well?” Winslayer said, opening the tent. “You gonna come on in, Raven?” 

I smiled. Fuckyeah i was. 

WE woke up the next… morning? I think? Exogul doesn’t really have mornings. But we woke up and ate more goop and continued on our way. WE were lucky we didn’t get our shit kicked in over night but tbh I don’t know how many people were still alive. It’s not like there was a scoreboard or a horn that sounded off when everyone died. THat would be a good idea. If only we had that. 

WE kept walking, past some dead bodies. Lucifer Oddwood, Charlotte Sithivan, Painy Royal. Poor girls didn’t stand a chance to whatever killed them. I gulped, hoping that we would. 

“It’s really gross how people just leave their dead bodies around,” Iniquity said. “Like fucking hell, at least throw them away first. Put a blanket over them. I don’t wanna see that shit.” 

“You can’t handle dead bodies?” i asked. “I thought sith lords were used to these sorts of things.” 

“I…. shut the fuck up.” 

We kept walking and walking until finally Mi’ra stopped us. “WAIT WAIT WAIT!” 

“What???” Winslayer yelled in response. 

“I… hm. This is weird.” Mi’ra stroked her chin. 

“What?” 

“Well, the force is telling me that this is the middle of the field, but….” 

“The weapon’s not here…” I finished her sentence for her. “Think someone took it?” 

“Surprise, fuckers.” We heard a british voice say. I turned up to see her standing in a tree. Fucking hell. Of course it was her. It was…. Reyvan Palpatine!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh fuck oh shit


	97. a battle of selves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec says he just wants to comfort his girlfriend. I don’t know what to do. What the fuck do i do??

“Reyvan! You bitch!” Mi’ra screamed. “You took the ultimate lightsaber, didn’t you?” 

“What??” she started laughing. “Oh I can’t believe you actually fell for that shit. That’s just something upperclassmen tell the younger class to fuck with them.” 

“But… my sister told me…” 

“Your sister fucking lied to you,” Revan said as she jumped down from the tree. “That info is told so that naive little younglingclassmen like you come down to the middle of the forest for slaughtering. And it’s worked out pretty well so far.” She pointed around to all the corpses around on the grass. “Anyway, Silthlax, Hurt, come out and have some fun with the others.” 

The Dragonborn girl and the human dude came out, lightsabers drawn. They began to approach us, blades swinging. Reyvan got out her lightsaber. 

“Save this Raven girl for me, though.” Reyvan smiled. “I want to kill her myself. Slow and painfully.” 

“Yeah, well… I’m gonna do that to you!” I said, totally fucking owning her. I got out my two red sabers and ran towards her. 

She swung at me from underwards but I was able to block it with one and then swing at the head with the other. But she held out her hand and force pushed the light saber out of my grasp. 

“Uh-uh, that’s not fair!” she said. 

“Since when do you care about playing fair??” I whined. 

“Fuck off!” she swung her saber over and over and over again and I kept dodging and blocking. She was so strong and so fast. 

Behind me, I could hear the sounds of fighting. Iniquity and Winslayer and Mi’ra were doing their best against Hurt Orlaine and Sithvilax. They were doing flips and shit and that was cool and i was like wait, that’s a good trick, so I tried doing a flip over Reyvan and got on her other side and was able to stab her in the side. 

She looked down at the burn mark on her side and then swung again at me violently and violently and aggressively and violently. Holy shit this bitch. Suddenly there was a scream. We turned to see that Mi’ra had stabbed Hurt through the neck and then swiped it, making his head roll off. 

“How the fuck…?” Reyvan said, distracted for a moment. I took advantage of this by swinging but then she blocked it. “Oh no you don’t, cucker.” 

Silthvi was pissed as she kept swinging her swords over and over. Iniquity was doing her best to block it and as she did, Winslayer slided under her legs and force kicked Silthvi over, who stumbled on her back. She was just about to stand up and grip her blade when lightning came from the sky and hit her, electrocuting her to bits. When it went away, there was just a charred corpse on the ground. 

“Huh.” Winslayer said. 

They all turned over, lightsaber drawned before Reyvan waved her hands and two trees fell down on the ground in front of them. 

“IF ANYONE FUCKING INTERRUPTS US I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL NOT HESITATE TO USE THE FORCE TO PULL OUT YOUR ORGANS!” Reyvan yelled. She turned her attention back to me and smiled and used force lightning. I dodged out of the way and force lightninged back and that just sort of happened, us playing tag over and over again with force lightning before she dodged and then waved her hand. 

“You don’t want to fight me,” she said. 

“I… don’t want to fight you…” I said, loosening my grip on my lightsaber. 

Reyvan waved her hand again. “In fact, you’re so hungry.” 

“I’m…. so hungry…” 

“You want to activate your lightsaber and then eat it.” 

“I want to….” I looked at my lightsaber and then I stopped. What was I… what was I doing…? 

She must have caught on that her control was failing because she ran up to me and did a flip in the air, swinging down with the lightsaber. But before she could, I raised my own blade, cutting off her right leg. Her center of balance thrown off, she fell sideways towards the ground, her lightsaber meters away from her. 

“FUCK!” she yelled, hunched over on the floor. She tried to use her upper body strength to crawl towards her lightsaber, but I guess she realized she wouldn’t get there in time because instead, she turned around and held her hand out. I felt a light grip on my neck. Oh. Was she trying to use the force? 

Oh the poor thing. She was so weak now. 

I smiled. 

I held out my hand. 

Suddenly Reyvan’s body raised up in the air. She was moving her arms now, grasping at her neck, her skin gradually turning blue. She looked angry at first. Understandable. Being force choked would make anyone pissed off. But as I kept her up there, I saw her face change. From anger it turned into… panic? And as I walked slowly and slowly closer to her, I saw that panic change once more into something else. It changed into… fear. 

Could it be? The great Reyvan Palpatine, afraid of me? 

Good. She should be. 

I closed my grip.

Her neck snapped. 

I moved my arm to the side and whacked her dead limp body against the trees. 

Suddenly a giant horn blared out. Using the force, a loud voice spoke in our heads. 

“FINALS HAVE NOW CONCLUDED. THE BLACK PARADE ARE THE VICTORS.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip reyvan, silthvi, and hurt


	98. coming clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i just need a break. Just a break from all of this

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my towel around both my hair and my body. Dam, showers were cool. Water just, like… came out of the thing and hit your face? That shit was tight as fuck. Plus getting all that gunk and shit off of me from the prison cell. 

Fuck yeah that felt great. 

I finished drying myself off and went over to the thing I was most excited about: the vanity. I haven’t gotten to do my makeup since… god, has it been since Traincoming? That felt like years ago, even though I knew it was just a few weeks (or shit maybe it was a few years idk time is fucking weird) 

Like a painter on his canvas or sculpture with his chisel, I take whatever tools I have and make my face a fucking working of art. A nice simple glam look with contouring and heavy eyeliner and heavy lip and fuck yeah Veronica, you look amazing. 

“Ahem.” 

I turned around behind me to see Serinepth, still in her ruined garb from the fight, awkwardly holding her arms in front of her. “Um, Veronica… that’s my vanity…” 

“Yeah, but, like, given the circumstances, you don’t mind, do you?” 

“Um. I mean. I guess not…” She awkwardly walked over to me. This was the first time getting a good look at her in the sunlight. That prison cell was really really really dark. With the extra light, I was able to make out more of her face. She did definitely look… older. Not in the wrinkly way, mind you. She was old in that, like….. 26 year old way. Which is like super fucking old to me. 

And she also looked so tired. 

“So,” I fluffed my hair up and started arranging it. “What brings you here?” 

“Oh, I uh… just came to tell you about the news.” 

“The news? Is there any news?” 

“Well, I sent Artis to the medical ward. They should be able to get him stabilized in no time flat.” 

“Do you trust the people in the medical ward?” 

“I mean…” She sighed. “There will have to be… serious reform. Lots of people need to be fired and punished for their actions. But I trust the medics. I don’t feel like I have a reason not to.” 

“So you think trust is going to be enough?” 

“It should be! I already promoted Rat Licker to Captain of Community Outreach and I trust her so hopefully she’ll be able to ease some of the tensions between Patter and its people.” 

“Uh-huh. I don’t know who that is. Anyway, any other news? Anybody else say anything?” 

“I… don’t know. I haven’t… really… talked to anyone else.” 

“Oh?” I turned to her. “Why’s that?” 

“Well, I mean… it’s… awkward… it’s…. I don’t know how to describe it.” 

“Just fucking describe it, Sinderman. It’s not THAT hard.” 

She sighed. “Is it just me or do they seem so much more… immature than I do?” 

“Oh, finally off your coke binge enough to notice time is weird?” 

“Well it’s not just the fact that I’m older!” Serinpeth sat on the bed and held a small plush pillow against her chest. “I mean, it is. But it’s like… what do I say to them? How do I apologize for all the bad shit I’ve done? For letting this happen?” 

I sighed. “If I’ve learned anything from all this… fucked up stuff, it’s that you just be open and honest and willing to better yourself and move on.” 

She paused. “Is it really that simple?” 

“Serinepth, nothing is really simple. But yeah. Just… try to be better.” 

She took a deep breath in. “Okay. Okay I think we can do this.” 

“We?” 

“Well, I mean… yeah… you and… um… Wanna just come with me to see the others?” 

I sighed. “Yeah, sure, let me get changed and I’ll be right there.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad these two are on nice terms again


	99. on the same page

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: my birthday is tomorrow and i just don’t want to

“Sup, losers,” I said as I sat down in a chair. We were in what I guessed was Corka’s strategic planning room, some room in the far corner of the castle with a grand circular table in the middle and a bunch of dim mood lights. It was honestly kind of cool, to be honest? Like for as much of a dick as Corka was, he had a good taste in castles. Why didn’t I try to have a castle when I was on my whole evil thing? Seems like a real wasted opportunity. 

“Hey Veronica…” Mira said, awkwardly looking down, twiddling her thumbs. Poor girl. 

I scooted my chair closer to her. “How are you doing after all of that?” 

“I’m… okay? Arm is a bit sore from the fight, feels a bit weird. But honestly I walked away from it way better than most people. How’re you?” 

“Eh.”I shrugged. “My wrists hurt a bit from the handcuffs and I’m still a bit sore from having a fuckin desk thrown at me. But besides that… yeah I’m okay, I guess?” 

“That’s good. Why did Corka even take you on the roof anyway?” 

I huffed. “He wanted to see if he could use the Earth Angel to kill me and create a reality emerald.” 

“Oh.” Mira sat back in her seat and stroked her chin. “Huh.” 

“What?” 

“Nothing, it’s just… where do you think he got that idea? How did he even find out about the reality emerald?” 

“Apparently Teb told him? And I guess Elrich told Teb, from the sounds of it?” 

Mira remained silent for a few moments before finally speaking up. “No no I mean that still doesn’t sound right.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, like, Elrich already killed Sarah and made a reality tea, right?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Soooo this universe has already made a reality emerald, right?” 

“Yeah, what about it?” 

“Well, remember what happened back in our universe with you? If two reality emeralds are created in the same location-” 

“-the universe is destroyed.” Serinepth finished for her as she sat down. 

“Huh.” It was my turn to sit back and really reflect on it. “So do you think Elrich just didn’t know about that?” 

“Who knows.” MIra shrugged her shoulders. 

Serinepth sighed. “Regardless, if there’s one thing we absolutely know, it’s that Elrich is a high level threat and we can’t waste anymore time.” 

“Hey, we weren’t wasting time,” I said as I smiled at her. “I’ve been focused on this for the last few weeks since it happened. You’re the one that has been taking years.” 

“Yeah, well… that is also… a concern I have… But that seems like an issue for another time, especially since we don’t have any leads as far as causes or sources.” 

“Yeah but I don’t know if we have any leads on how to kill Elrich either,” Mira huffed, frustrated. 

“Howdy, y’all,” Winsler said as he walked into the room, tipping his hat. 

“Winsler!” Serinepth smiled. “Did you find this room okay?” 

“Not gonna lie, I got lost a few times, but I found it eventually!” 

“What were you up to?” I leaned forward. 

“Oh, just checking up on Artis.” 

“How’s he doing??” Mira said, a bit worried. 

“Well, his fingers were cut off but besides that he should be okay?” 

“Praise Jesus,” Serinepth muttered, giving out a noise of relief. 

“So!” Winsler hopped up and wiggled into a seat. “What’re we talking about?” 

“Killing Elrich,” I said nonchalantly. 

“Oh sweet that dude is a prick.” Winsler said. “So how’re we gonna do it?” 

“We don’t know!” Mira yelled. “That’s kinda the problem we have! We don’t even know how to find him to get Mara and Fidan back.” 

“That’s true,” I said. “Unless we can get a reality emerald, there’s no way we can leave this universe.” 

“And we can’t get a reality emerald in this universe because it’ll just end up destroying the universe.” Mira sighed. 

“I think I can help with that,” Winsler said as he tossed a small brown fuzzy bag onto the table. 

“What’s this?” Serinepth asked as she leaned over and took a look at it. 

“It’s a bag of rings. I found them on the roof of the castle, around where Mara was standing.” 

“Rings…” I collected my thoughts for a moment. “Mara appeared in a ring over Corka. Think these things will…? 

“Take us to another universe? Um.” Winsler took his hat off and scratched his hair. “Who knows unless we try?” 

Suddenly a large ass group of bees flew in and approached Winsler. They buzzzed around his head. If one of these things get close to me, I swear to god I’m eating it. 

“My queeeeeen,” the bees said. 

“What’s the update, uh, bees?” Winsler asked. “Any survivors?” 

“From Pitter?? No. But we did find one perzzzon amongzzt the rubble. We have brought them heree.” 

There was a knock on the door way. We all turned to look to see a familiar red haired girl with horns. 

“Heyyy,” Integrity said, smiling. “Long time, no see.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Team SWIMV are reunited again and all it took was 90 chapters!


	100. working together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so something weird happened at my birthday

“INTEGRITY!” Mira and Winsler yelled as they ran over to hug her. Serinepth, however, sat in her chair and gave a light princess wave. 

“Hey you guys! Geez! It’s just been a few days, no need to be so worried!” Integrity laughed. 

“WE DIDN’T KNOW IF YOU WERE DEAD OR NOT!” Mira yelled. 

“Nah, it’s gonna take a lot more than that to kill good old Integrity Idleberry.” She gave a laugh, but it was a strange one. A bit… show-offish. A bit… forced. “Though not gonna lie, those bees made me super super supre nervous.” 

“Yeah same at first,” Winsler said as he went to sit down on his seat. “Though now I’m really coming to really appreciate bee queen.” 

“Bee queen?” Integrity sat down and adjusted her chair up and down and up and down. “What all did I miss?” 

Serinepth spoke up now, the first thing she said since Integrity had walked into the room. “Um. A lot.” 

“Oh shit! Hey!” Integrity got out of the chair and rushed over and hugged her but as she did, she stepped away a bit. “You look… different? Not like a bad different, you know, but like a… different different.” 

“She’s 7 years older,” I said bluntly. 

“Oh.” Integrity backed away and studied her face. “Oh, now I definitely see it.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean??” Serinepth said, worried. 

“Yeah this situation is kind of fucked up…” Mira huffed. 

Serinepth adjusted her hair behind her ears and sat up straight. “You know, everyone is making a big deal about me being seven years older, but don’t you think the actual weird thing is that you all are seven years too young?” 

There was a pause before Mira spoke up again. “Nah, you’re the real fucked up one here.” 

“Yeah, true, we’re all doing pretty fine!” I said. 

“Yeah I mean my face hurts but I don’t think I’ve been having time issues?” Winsler scratched his head. 

“Y’all.” Integrity slammed her hand down on the table. She looked at us with a sense of seriousness that I never saw from her before. “There’s something important I need to talk about.” 

“Oh?” Serinepth leaned over. 

“Yeah. I… I saw the bombing of Pitter.” 

“Yeah, we did too.” Mira rolled her chair over to Integrity and put her hand on hers. “Are you… are you doing okay?” 

“Yeah I mean… I’m… that was…. Yeah.” Integrity swallowed a bit and took in a deep breath from her nose. “There was this girl with me though. She ran to Pitter after the explosion and by the time I got there, she was gone. Anybody know anything about that?” 

“Um, yeah.” Winsler coughed. “Um. Red haired girl? Super pale?” 

“Yes! That’s her!” Integrity’s face lit up. 

“Yeah, okay….” Serinepth put her hands in front of her face and gave a deep inhale. “How do we put this…” 

“Elrich kidnapped her.” I said, matter of factly. 

“Ah.” Integrity was silent for a moment, just sort of looking out into space. And then she scooted her chair away from the table and started walking out of the room. “Welp, this has been fun. I’ll see you all later.” 

“Wait!” Mira yelled as she got out of her own chair and ran up to her and pulled on her shirt. “Where are you going? What are you doing?” 

“I’m going to save Mara. Duh.” 

Mira released the grip on her shirt. “Okay, like. Okay. Do you even know where she is?” 

Integrity thought about it for a second. “Nope. But I’ll figure it out.” 

“You really think you can do that without any knowledge or context of what’s going on?” Winsler asked. 

“Yep!” 

I walked over to Integrity. “Look, we just got the party back together and now you want to split up again? What the fuck??” 

“I gotta do it, Veronica. Don’t you understand?” 

“CHILDREN!” Serinepth yelled, standing up. “Get back to your seats this instant!” 

We all sighed and returned to our chairs. “Yes ma’am.” 

Serinepth kept walking around us, walking in a circle. “It’s very clear that the old methods of ours, where we just… do things? That’s not going to work. If we’re not on the same page, something else disastrous will happen and we can’t afford that. Not after what happened this time.” 

“So what are you proposing, Sinderman?” I said through slightly gritty teeth. 

“I’m just saying that maybe doing some form of long term planning will greatly benefit us in the long run.” 

Mira groaned. “Ugh, sounds boring.” 

Serinepth walked over and ruffled her hair. “Boring, yes. But important, nevertheless.” 

“I’m actually going to agree with Sinderman on this one,” I spoke up. 

“Really?” Winsler asked. 

I shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, do you think I would’ve been able to take all of the chaos emeralds in your universe if I didn’t come up with a very very thorough plan?” 

  
Serinepth gave a little jump with joy. “Exactly! Now, how are we going to do this…” She rubbed her chin for a bit and then yelled out “WHITEBOARD” and then two rock soldiers came in with a whiteboard that they set down in front of us. The whiteboard still had diagrams about the Earth Angel and stuff on that. Serinepth went to quickly erase it. “Ahem, sorry about that. Anyway! Let’s get to business, shall we?”    


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad team vswim is planning for once


	101. coming and going

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: okay so. It was my birthday and we were opening presents and my dad was like “i’m going to need you to open this one first” and i was like “why?” and he was like “you’ll understand once you open it. So I opened it and it was a binder? And my eyes started watering up and I looked at my dad and asked him, “You knew?” And he just hugged me and said that he’s known for a while

“Okay, so Integrity, do you feel up to speed?” Serinepth asked as she pointed to the whiteboard. 

“Um, I think?” 

“Okay, so you can explain what happened to the rest of us then?” 

“Ummm…” Integrity closed her eyes and scratched the side of her head. “We all landed in Isathill, Veronica and Mira ended up in Pitter where they got to see a musical made by Phillip Maisel and then Veronica got arrested. Winsler and Serinepth ended up here in Patter where Winsler got stuck in a storage closet and became queen of bees” 

As she was saying this, I could hear Winsler mumble to himself. “Oh shit should I go free Rock Jerry…” 

Integrity continued. “And then Serinepth stayed up here in the castle and became a rock fascist.” 

Serinepth spoke up. “Well, fascist is a strong word.” 

“Yeah, but an accurate one,” I said. 

Integrity kept going. “And then it turns out Elrich was working with Teb who was working with Corka who was looking for the Earth Angel because of Teb and then Corka found the Earth Angel and then blew up Pitter but then before he could hurt anyone else, Mara came and snapped his neck and also Elrich was there and Veronica got one of her emerald powers back and tried to blow him up but he wouldn’t die and then he kidnapped Mara and her mom. Is that about everything?” 

“Um, yes, wow. “Serinepth was actually stunned. “That was a… very good summary.” 

“That’s the thing I’m stuck on, though,” I said as I walked up to the board and grabbed the marker from Serinepth’s hand and drew a little stick figure of Elrich on the board. “Elrich can’t be killed yet, as far as we know.” 

“So is he like you then?” Winsler asked. 

“Kinda. I mean, no one is quite like me.” I smiled. “But he shouldn’t be quite so strong. He’s just got one emerald. And granted, it’s the reality one, which is the most OP of them. But still.” 

“Well, wasn’t there some sort of black energy on him too? Like when he was regenerating?” Mira said. 

“Yeah… wait a second!” I got out the marker and began to make notes, hoping that I didn’t forget what was coming to mind. 

“What??” Integrity asked. 

I turned around. “Okay, so I was thinking about what Elrich said. He said that reality powers and nercromancy magic are very strong things.” 

Serinepth thought about it but then it hit her. “Wait, you don’t think-?” 

“Yes!” I yelled. “So long as the necromancy spell is on Elrich, I don’t think we can fully kill him!” 

“Oh fuck!” Winsler yelled but then he slumpt down in his chair. “Oh fuck….” 

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking at him. I was wondering why he was so solemn. In fact, they all looked a bit more gloomy from this news than I thought. 

“We don’t have a necromancer in this party…” Mira said, solemnly. 

“Oh.” I scratched my head. “Can’t you just, like, learn that?” 

“Necromancy work is incredibly complicated.” Serinepth said, her voice a bit low. “It would take us years to even begin to get close to good enough to lift a spell like it.” 

“Plus there’s another problem.” Integrity leaned back in her chair. “Necromancy magic takes time and concentration. Do you really think Elrich will just let you cast it on him without fighting back?” 

“That’s… shit.” I couldn’t think of what to say. “That’s… a damn good point.” I got out the eraser and prepared to erase it but then an idea came to me. “Wait!” 

“What??” Mira leaned forward. 

“Okay, so you’re right. In a lot of ways, he is like me. And he’s not going to be killed or damaged so easily. Even using the green emerald I have, he still regenerated within seconds.” 

“Is that supposed to make us feel better?” Winsler asked.. 

“Well, remember in the prime universe. There wasn’t a way I could be killed, but there was a way I was taken out. Remember?” I looked around to their confused expressions, just looking at me strangely. “Oh, right. You all were dead by that point. Sorry about that. Anyway, Raven was able to use the power of the reality emerald you all had made to shoot me in the head. And that kept me out for… I think at least a while. Enough for her to do all her fucked up shit.” 

Serinepth sat back down and crossed her legs. “What are you getting at, Elm Rune?” 

I began to draw on the whiteboard, making sure my back was covering the board for dramatic effect. Then I turned around and let them see what I had written. “I’m thinking that, if we’re going to kill Elrich, we’ll need two things: a reality emerald to incapacitate him, and a necromancer to lift the spell.” 

“Oh…” Mira paused. “That makes it sound so easy!” 

“Easier than it’ll actually be, probably.” Winsler adjusted his hat and glasses. “We’re going to need to actually, y’know, find those two things.” 

“But it’s at least a plan!” I yelled. “It gives us a place to start from! We can find these and then go kill Elrich and then rescue Mara and Fidan!” 

“Nuh-uh.” Integrity put her legs on the table and leaned back even further. How did she not fall out of her chair? 

“Nuh-uh? The fuck do you mean by that?” I asked. 

“Nuh-uh. Bad plan. I don’t like it.” 

“What don’t you like about it? It makes sense, doesn’t it?” 

“Oh yeah, no. I get it. It seems good for killing Elrich. But you’re forgetting an important part of this equation, Elm Rune.”

“And what’s that, Idleberry?” 

“I really want to save Mara now.” 

Serinepth sighed. “I get that. But Integrity, we can’t just rush and go find Elrich without any way to fight back. That would be a suicide mission.” 

“Hm, who said anything about fighting? I’m a rogue, aren’t I? I can sneak in there and sneak out without him even noticing.” 

“That’s still super risky!” Mira yelled. “You’re just gonna put everyone at risk! If we just wait and all go to attack him together, it’ll be way more effective!” 

“Okay but counterpoint!” Integrity stood up and placed her hands on Serinepth’s shoulders. “As we all seem to agree, time sure does seem to be fucked, doesn’t it? And none of us seem to have any idea how it works. The longer we spend waiting to save Mara, the more time we risk passing wherever she is. We don’t want to go save her and have it be, seven or twenty or fifty years later for her.” 

Serinepth shivered a bit at both the thought and the touch. “That’s… a really good point.” 

“So with that in mind!” Integrity adjusted her cloak. “I’m going to go find out where Mara and Fidan are, save them, and bring them back here. By then, you all should have what you need and can go kill Elrich for good.” 

Mira sighed. “There’s really no persuading you away from this, huh? You really want to split up the party AGAIN after all this?” 

“Mira. I have to.” 

“Well, at least let one of us go with you,” Winsler said. “If we’ve learned anything, it’s that nothing good happens when one of us is left alone.” 

Serinepth gulped. “I’ll go with her. I’ll accompany my cousin.” 

“Wait.” I sat down on the table. “You two are cousins?” 

Integrity looked at me strangely. “Yes?”

“Did you not know that?” Serinepth asked. 

“No? You two don’t really bring it up? Whatever.” I grabbed the brown bag on the counter and began counting the contents in it. “Okay, so there’s like 20 or so rings in here. We can divide them equally by two and have enough that we can hopefully be able to find everything we’re looking for.” I shrugged and thought about it for a second. “And if we run out, hopefully by then I’ll at least have my reality powers back and just be able to hop through universes on my own.” 

There was a moment of silence. We all looked at each other, a bit nervous, trying to figure out if this was the real deal, if we were actually going to go through with this. I admit, even I felt a bit uneasy about this. This was such a fucking long shot. And none of us really knew what we were doing, it seemed like.But… fuck it, what choice did I have? Just let Elrich be a fucking weirdo and destroy everything? Fuck no. 

Serinepth broke the silence by getting out of her chair and standing up. “Okay, so if we’re doing this, Integrity, we might want to go see Artis and see if he can give us any idea as to where Elrich could have gone.” 

Integrity’s ears perked up like a cat. “Artis is here?? Girl, why didn’t you tell me earlier?? Let’s go!” 

The two of them walked out of the planning room, leaving just me, Mira and Winsler. I stood by the whiteboard, looking at the words, trying to go through my brain. Reality emerald. Necromancer. I needed those two. But where to go first? Or where to go at all? Fuck, this was hard. There was limitless potential for what this could be. 

Suddenly I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I jumped a bit, but relaxed when I turned around and saw it was Mira. “Hey. You doing okay?” 

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m just… fuck. Trying to figure out where to even start with this.” 

“Yeah… it’s… not easy…” 

“Tell me about it!” Winsler said, standing on the table so that he was eye level to us. “It’s like, where do we even go?” 

Where do we go? 

Wait

What if we didn’t have to go anywhere? 

I jumped up. “Son of a bitch!” 

Mira was a bit startled by this and stepped back. “Um. Was that a good ‘son of a bitch’, or a bad ‘son of a bitch?’” 

I laughed a bit to myself. “Oh fuck. Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner. Damn, you’re getting really sloppy, Veronica.” 

“What the heck are you talkin about?” Winsler looked a bit concerned. 

I just smiled and turned to the two. “What if we could get two birds with one stone?” 

“Um. Okay.” Mira smiled but then looked confused again. “Um. How do we do that, exactly?” 

“Watch and learn, Marchand You might wanna back away.” They did as told and I adjusted my stance, keeping my arms outstretched. I began snapping and making noises with my mouth. “Pspspspsps” 

Suddenly a gray cat appeared in a flash in the middle of the room. He was turning his head, looking both very worried but also very curious about the source of the sound. “Huh. What…?” Then his eyes locked with mine. “Oh shit! It’s you!” 

I wrapped my arms around him and kept my grip tight. “Hi there, Macavity.” 

“Unhand me, woman! If you don’t, my life is at great risk!” 

“Oh, i know, you poor thing.” I scritched his forehead and he melted in my arms, seeming to forget all of his worries and concerns. 

Mira just walked around me, more than a little bit confused. “Um. Veronica. I love you, but… What the fuck are you doing?” 

“Just watch!” I said with a smile on my face as I began scritching under Macavity’s chin. Sure enough, I was right. 

A black portal appeared in the space in front of it, a portal taller than even us. As she stepped out, I definitely noticed differences about her. Much like Serinepth, she looked a bit older. Maybe around 24 or so? Her long blonde hair was arranged in a complicated braid. Her face was filled with various different scars and cuts. She was wearing what I can only describe as all black body armor, with a giant gun in her arms. She pointed the gun at Macavity and then looked up and saw exactly who was carrying him. Then she looked around and saw everyone else. 

Delnys Raethran sighed. “Oh. It’s you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh delnys is here. Leave a review if you’re glad Delnys is here


	102. chant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad asked me if i had a name and i told him Mason and he said it was a great name

“OW!” I yelled. I could still feel this zombie’s dude cold hands on the back of my neck, holding me by my shirt collar. Why was he holding me and not mom? Did he expect me to run away but not her? That’s super unfair. 

We came out of the blue space of the portal thing and ended up in this weird locker looking place. It looked… like a basic room? There was a couch and a bed and a mini fridge and a coffee table and a book case and covers on the windows. 

“Oh my god, Elrich,” mom said with her mouth dropped. “You didn’t.” 

“I did.” He walked around and raised his arms up. “What do you think? I tried to get it as closely as I could remember it.” 

“Um,” I spoke up. “Am I supposed to recognize this?” 

“No, dear. This is my old dorm from when I was in school.” 

“Your mother and I used to hang out here a lot.” He smiled at me with his dead teeth and I cringed. Ugh. I wanted to punch him really bad. 

Mom walked away from him. “Yeah. We did. And it’s pathetic.” 

“You don’t like it?” 

“No, I don’t, Elrich. What the fuck are you doing?” 

“Saving everything.” He said this so matter of factly, almost condescendingly. 

“Doesn’t sound like that to me.” Mom got over by me and put me behind her protectively. “Sounds like you’re actually going to fuck everything up.” 

“No.” 

“Great counter argument.” Mom rolled her eyes. She was so cool. 

Elrich got closer, walking with a bit of stiffness, something kinda like a limp. Every time he took a step, his eye would bounce a bit in its socket. It was, um…. Disturbing. “Why are you shielding her from me? I’m not going to hurt her.” 

“Fuck you.” 

Elrich, fully close to us now, grabbed mom’s hand and rubbed it to… I guess show affection? All it made me do was want to gag. “I’m not a cruel man, Fidan. You know this. I don’t want to hurt anybody.” 

“You killed Teb.” 

“Teb was using Mara as a shield. He was threatening to hurt her. What did you expect me to do?” 

I had no chill anymore. I had to yell. “Why do you even care about me anyway, buttface??” 

Elrich just smiled. “She certainly took that from you, didn’t she?” He turned around and walked around. “I would offer you something from the fridge but, well, I’ll just promise to get you some food later.” 

“Or you could let us go.” Mom said, her arm still around me protectively. “Bring us back to Isathill and go do whatever the fuck you plan on doing.” 

“You know I can’t do that,” Elrich said, taking a drink of milk out of the fridge and chugging it. I could see it going through his body. God I hated this so much. “Even if I wanted to do that, it would take a bit for me to recharge my universe hopping abilities. I’m not as… strong in that as some others.” 

“So that’s it?” Mom stepped forward. “We’re in another universe?” 

“Indeed. It sounds crazy, I know.” 

“Not after everything I’ve seen recently.” She walked a bit more around, cursing under her breath. Were these people serious? I was in… another universe now?? I didn’t feel any different. Was I supposed to feel different in an alternate universe? This was… ugh. 

“I want you to see something.” Elrich stepped over by the windows and waved his hands. The boards in front of them glowed blue and then disappeared. Once there, we could see outside. Or… what remained outside. It was nothing but rocks and ruins, buildings trampled over and covered by dirt and debris, fires bursting out everywhere. I felt my body start to shake as I began breathing a bit heavily. It was just like… just like….

Mom walked over to the window. “What happened here?” 

“A local king heard word about a set of dice that, if rolled high enough, could give great fortune to whoever rolled it. He scavenged the land, killing everything that stood in his way, until he found them. And then finally he gave them a roll.” 

“And?” Mom asked. 

“He got a Nat 1.” Elrich sighed. “Life still exists here, but it’s… scarce. Most mortals can’t stand to be on the surface anymore.” He walked over to the desk, snapped his fingers and then the desk drawer on it opened.. He pulled out a tiny little bag. “These are the dice in question.” 

“You have them??” Fidan yelled, backing away. 

“Yes. You didn’t think I was busy doing nothing, did you? I made great use of Teb’s knowledge while I still could.” 

Mom got out a blade she kept on her side. “If you use those, I swear to god-” 

“Use them?” Elrich laughed. “You misunderstand so much, dear. I never wanted to use them. Just like I never wanted to use the Earth Angel. I’m using the Heart only for practicality purposes, but everything else I have? It’s just there to be destroyed.” 

Mom’s pale face grew even paler. “You… have more?” 

“Of course I do.” Elrich reached more into the filing cabinet and began pulling various different trinkets out. “I have a few emeralds, three or four reality stones, a transformation hat, four orbs.” 

“Four orbs?” I asked. 

“Don’t worry about them. They’re not really that important.” He began searching through the cabinet more. “Gosh, it’s been a lot.” He placed it all back in the cabinet and then snapped his fingers and it closed again. I could hear the sound of it being locked. He walked over to mom and placed a finger under her chin. “What do you think, lover?” 

Mom pushed him away. “Get the fuck away from me. You have the fucking audacity? The gall? You think I’m going to see all this and be in love with you?” 

“You were. At one point.” He placed a hand on her hip. “Fidan, it’s me. It’s Elrich. I’m the same as I always was.” 

“No you’re not.” Mom was fuming. “Or maybe you are and I just didn’t see it then.” 

Elrich snarled and pushed her away. He turned away from her. “This changes nothing. You won’t love me? Fine. But you and Mara are still going to be here for a while so the least we can do is act civil as to not make her uncomfortable.” 

“Yeah that ship has long sailed,” I spoke up. I walked over and stood by mom. “Why do you ever care about me anyway? I don’t even know who you are.” 

Elrich looked a bit taken aback, almost shocked, and I saw some genuine sadness on his face. And then it was replaced by a sly smile. “Well, Fidan, don’t be a monster. Tell the girl.” 

I turned to her. “What… what’s he talking about?” 

She just sighed. “I… he’s…. Elrich…. He’s your biological father.” 

“WHAT??” I yelled, pushing away from her. “That… that’s not true!” 

“Things can be surprising, I know.” Elrich stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder. “I would’ve been there sooner if I could. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” 

“No!’ I yelled as I pushed his hand away from me and stepped back. I turned around and began running, out the door, away from mom and away from Elrich and away from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: poor girl….


	103. a father’s attempt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m so grateful for my dad

I kept running. Outside of that room I was in was what looked like… well, a kinda big house, made of lots of fine wood and staircases and lots of rooms. I just kept running though, not even thinking of what I was doing or where I was going. I tried to find what looked like a front door but there wasn’t one. I mean, I guess it wouldn’t be needed, considering as this dude could just teleport, but whatever. I ran upstairs and into the one room I found open, this bedroom with pure black walls. I slammed the door behind me. 

There’s no way that could be true. Mom did you know what with HIM?? Of all people?? Was he a zombie then or was he alive?? And how could she have done that to dad? What did she ever see in this dude to begin with?? He was a total weirdo??? 

Just 

Just

  
  


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

I grabbed a pillow off of the bed and slammed my face into it and then screamed. It helped a little bit. 

I missed home. I missed dad. I missed Integrity. I missed… 

I held the sun pendant on the silver necklace I was wearing. I began to cry. 

This was the worst. 

There was a knock on the door. I stayed silent and moved under the bed as stealthily as I could. The door creaked open. I could see Elrich’s shoes as he walked around. “You can come out, Mara. I can hear your name.” 

I huffed and rolled out from under the bed and sat on top of it. 

He sat on the bed next to me. “Surprised you went to this room first. This is the room of my other daughter.” 

“Other daughter?” I asked, mildly curious how this man would be able to do you know what with two different women. 

“Yes. Your half sister. She… hasn’t been around for a while.” 

“Can’t imagine why. Also I’m not your daughter.” 

He sighed. “I know it’s hard to accept. I can’t imagine this is particularly good news for you right now. I wish we were able to talk like this under different circumstances. Tell me, did Artis raise you well?” 

“You don’t get to talk about my dad. You cut off his fingers.” 

“Only because he tried to stab me. I did what I had to.” 

I crossed my arms. “You don’t have to do anything. Nobody has to do anything.” 

“You know more than anybody else here that that’s not true.” He put his arm around me. “I don’t want there to be hostility between us, Mara. I think you’re an amazing young woman and I look forward to getting to know you better while I still can. So can you please, show mercy to your dear father?”

I looked at him and felt his cold heavy arm on mine. I breathed in through my nose and uncrossed my arms. I leaned into him and put my arms around him as he held me in a tight hug. It was then that I moved my arms from behind his neck and held onto his head. In one quick blow, I snapped it. I backed away and let the body fall over on the bed limp. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

But then I heard his bones pop. And his neck moved. And his limp neck tightened as he sat up again. He gave a mild cough and rolled his neck around, his bones making an audible pop. “Impressive. That was the same technique you used on Corka, was it not?” 

I backed away from him even more, bringing my knees up to my chest. I didn’t feel right around this dude. None of this was right. 

“You poor girl.” He looked down. “You saw the blast, didn’t you? You shouldn’t have had to see that. Nor should you have been forced to do that.” His frown changed into a smile, one he probably thought was comforting. “But it’s a good thing you did. You saved a lot of people, including your parents.” 

“Thanks…” I looked down.

“Do you mind if I tell you a story?” 

“Why are you asking? I’m going to say no and you’re going to tell it anyway.” 

He laughed. “You are your mother’s daughter, that’s for sure. But this is about a friend of ours. Well, I never got the pleasure of meeting him. More accurately, a friend of your mom and Artis. His name was Dain.” 

I was silent. 

“Well, his proper name was Inspector Dain. He was in charge of investigating crimes and other things that occurred on the train. It was his way to compensate for the high tuition fees of Wild Cliff Express. So when a job came to investigate the murder of a man named Williard Harrison Fitzgerald Ingrain, he had no choice but to accept. Dain did what he could to find info on Williard and his search kept leading him back to under the train and to something called The Heart of the Wild Cliff Express.” 

“So?” I spoke up. “Did he find out what happened?” 

Elrich sighed. “No. He was in the middle of investigating it when his time limit for Williard’s murder was up. Per Wild Cliff Express regulations, if an investigator fails to solve the case in their allotted time, they accept full responsibility for their murder and are promptly arrested.” 

“What??” I yelled. “That… that makes no sense!” 

“It does if you don’t want stories of crimes to dominate your school, nor if you don’t want too many students becoming investigators as a way to get around tuition.” 

“So what happened to him?” 

“Inspector Dain was put into the school prison, where he remained for the entirety of my first year there. Once the school year was over, he was taken off of the train and sentenced to death.” 

“That’s…. Terrible…” I shivered. 

“Indeed. Even though I wasn’t there, I could tell at the time that this left a great effect on your mom and her friends. One of them, Teb, you remember him right? He became obsessed with completing Dain’s research, which eventually just became an obsession with god objects as a whole and the power they could give. He even ended up selling his soul to a woman. Ended up with that same tattoo that you have on your wrist.” 

I tried to hide my hand and back away from him but he was too fast. He grabbed my arm and turned it around, exposing the S branded there. 

“You poor girl….” He rubbed his fingers up and down it. “And here I was, hoping I would have a daughter who wouldn’t just trust any old witch. Regardless, I’m sorry this happened. I’ll try to do what I can to keep you safe” 

I pulled my arm away from him and covered it up again. “What’s even the point in all of this? All this story stuff?” 

“The point is that obsession with this stuff, it’s dangerous. It’s toxic. All it’s done is lead to hurt. From Dain, to Teb and to Corka.” 

“And to you?” 

He paused. “My interest in them is different than the others.” 

“Uh-huh. Sure.” 

He stood up. “The point I’m trying to make here, Mara, is that I’m doing what I can to prevent people like Corka from ever doing what he did again. I just hope you understand that.” 

I wanted to tell him to go frick himself but instead I just said, “Fine.” 

He smiled. “Good. Now, when you’re feeling better, feel free to come back. I’m sure your mother and I would love to see you.” And with that, he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving me alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you agree with elrich’s logic and also rip dain


	104. miss popular

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I woke up feeling good today. I cried for a little bit but then I put on one of my new shirts I got for my birthday and felt better.

“Hey! Raven! Wait up!” 

I smiled slyly a s i turned and saw Mi’ra running over to me, her hands on her backpack. It was so funny, seeing her like this. Little miss tough girl was now following me everywhere like a puppy and I couldn’t help but love it. 

“Oh hey, Mi’ra, what’s up?” I said, playing this off cooly. It was hard to not laugh. 

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to walk to class together,” Mi’ra said, looking down at her feet. 

“Sure, I guess.” I shrugged and then picked up pace, walking a little bit ahead of her so that she’d be forced to walk fast just to keep up with me. 

This was great. 

Who knew that winning Finals and killing Reyvan was enough to turn the tides for me? Ever since then, it’s like this school did a total 360 on how they saw me. Gone was loser Raven, now I was the cool girl at school, everyone just begging for my attention. I mean, I get it. Not only am i hot as fuck but I’m also proofably the most talented sith lord in all of WIld Sith. 

Granted, there weren’t so many students here these days. Most of them had died in finals. All that were left was my group and a few scattered upperclassmen who were here for reasons I guess? But whatever, I didn’t mind. I was just enjoying the return of my well deserved school status

Though… 

I was thinking a lot about pirate fidan. It had been so long since I’d seen her. She seemed so restless to go kill everyone else at the start of this semester and then she just fucked off someone and hasn’t been back. I’m sure she was okay and probably just went and tried to do the thing without me (and she probably failed because she didn’t have me there). It was whatever. Though the concerning thing is that she’s my ride out of here…. And I need a way to get to Isathill so I can finally kill Clone Raven. 

Whatevs. I have stuff to do now anyways. 

Today was our first day back at regular classes and training. We were given a week off to just mingle around the school and heal and also let them clean up the corpses and confirm all the kills. It was great. I mean, I was still having nightmares every night about Isathill and also the sound of Severepth screaming but at this point that was almost comforting. 

I opened the classroom and saw Winslayer and Iniquity there. 

“Raven!” Winslayer said, smiling. “Great to have you here!” 

“Yeah!” Iniquity said. “Glad you could make it.” 

“Glad I could make it too,” I said as I ran my fingers through Iniquity’s hair. I could see her blush a bit. I would’ve kept going but then the door opened and Darthis came in. 

“Well well well,” he said. “Look who it is!” 

I stood up and rushed over to him. “Darthis! Were you watching?” 

His face remained still, that trademark scowl on his face. Then he wrapped me up in a hug. “I’m so proud of you.” 

I almost cried but then I remembered Sith Lords don’t cry so I didn’t. 

I broke away from the hug and sat back down next to Mi’ra and Iniquity. Darthis sat down on his desk and reorganized some papers. “So we have a lot to attend to. You passed Finals but your sith lord training isn’t done.” 

“What else could we possibly learn?” Mi’ra scoffed. 

Winslayer sat up in his chair so that he coud be seen by Darthis. “Yeah, shoudln’t we be graduating soon?” 

“You are. But you have to remember the Sith Lord Internship program.” 

“The fuck is that?” Iniquity asked. 

“Each sith with be paired up with a sith master and will learn the tools of the trade. It’s a common practice.” 

“Sounds lame,” I said as I put my feet up on the desk. 

Suddenly a noise came over the loud speaker. “RAVEN WILLOW BLOOD CHARM, GO TO THE CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE AT ONCE.” 

I shrugged and took my heeled boots off the desk and went. “Well, I’ll see you all in a bit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad raven is popular again


	105. the dark side of the force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec texted me, asking why i haven’t been talking to him….

“Ah Raven! Good to have you, it is!” 

“Thanks, Chance-y” I said as I sat down at the chair in front of his desk and crossed my legs dramatically. “What do you need from me?” 

“Did good in finals, I hear you did?” Chancellor Underbough sat in his chair and grinned his friendly grin again. 

“Yeah, I did.” I smiled. I’m glad I was finally being recognized for just how fucking good I am.

“Impressive, most impressive.” Underbough smiled. “And discover the jedi, you did.” 

“Indeed. Killed her with my own two hands too.” I swished my hair cooly behind my ear. I swore I could hear the force screaming again like in my dream but I just tried to ignore it. It did remind me though. My dream…. “Oh! Chancellor.!” 

“Yes, Raven?” Underbough raised a brow. 

“I keep having this dream about this blue staff that I keep seeing in my dream. And I think I saw it last time I was in your office.” 

“Ah.” Underbough said. He sat there for a moment and then he smiled and leaned forward in his chair. “Oh what the hell, you and I are friends now, I’m sure I can go ahead and tell you.” 

“Tell me what?” 

He walked over to his cabinet closet thing and opened it and pulled out… the blue staff! The one I saw in my dreams all the time! “I take it you recognize this, yes? But do you know what it is?” 

“Um. A blue staff?” 

“You’re not wrong. It is… was… Underbough’s staff.” 

I paused. SOmething about that seemed… off? “What do you mean? You’re Underbough?” 

He placed the staff by his side and closed his eyes and breathed in. “Raven, can yo u keep a secret?” 

“It’s famously something I’m good at, yes.” 

“You said in your transcript file you came from an alternate universe, correct?” 

“Yeah?” I probably should’ve been more privvy about that but what does it matter? Not like anybody else really cared about it or me until now. 

“Well, you’re not the only one. Have you heard about the Jedi universe?” 

“Um. No? But aren’t there jedi here?” 

“Yes. Just like there were siths there. It was just obvious which side wins in each universe.” Underbough smiled. “It was a boring universe, to be honest.” 

“You’ve been there?” 

“I’m from there! I was trained there!” 

“You trained as a Sith??” 

He cringed. “No. As a Jedi.”    
  


I was shocked. I can’t believe it! Chancellor Underbough used to be a stinky shitty Jedi??? How could that be?? Jedi were scum and Underbough wasn’t??? “So what lead you here?” 

“Well, I was quite… dissatisfied with the assignements there. Without much sith to kill, there wasn’t much I could do. So I decided that if I could save other universes too, I would. So I made a… bit of a deal, and before I knew it, I was somewhere else, a universe crawling with Sith.” 

“And then?” I asked, on the edge of my seat. 

“Well then I saw Wild Sith. And how great it was. And how powerful the students were. And Underbough… this Underbough… he ruled the school. Meanwhile, there was me, who had yet to be granted the rank of Master.” 

“Oh geez that must be a bummer. It always sucks when you find an alt universe version of yourself that’s cooler than yo uare.” 

“Exactly!!” Underbough yelled. “And much like how you had to kill Reyvan, so did I have to kill this Underbough. And once I did I just… well.” He coughed and put on a voice. “Took his place, i did.” 

“Ohhhh dang wow.” I thought about it for a second or few and then spoke up again. “Wait, so what does this have to do with the staff?” 

“Oh right! Silly me! How could I forget?” He smiled. “See, when my master from the Jedi universe, Master Aaltine, found out what I had done, he too made a deal to get himself over here and try to get me to come back and answer for my crimes. Well… that didn’t work. And out of it, came this thing.” 

He held the blue staff and waved it around. It hit me. This thing… it was a reality emerald! Or something ike it!! What the fuck?? 

He placed the thing back in the cabinet and turned around. “Anyway, that’s enough of that. I guess we should get into why I called you in here today.” 

“Um, yeah, that would be nice.” 

He sat down at his desk and rearranged some papers. “Are you finding school life better here, Raven?” 

“People have been way nicer to me, yeah!” 

“Good good! I’m glad! You know why, right?” 

“Yeah! It’s because they now know how powerful I am!” 

He smiled. “Indeed. People love those most powerful…. Though…” 

“Though?” 

“Well, you became more popular by killing Reyvan, correct? And more powerful as well? What’s to stop people, say, trying to kill you for the same reason?” 

“They could try but they’d fail. I’m pretty fuckin strong.” I crossed my arms and leaned back and smiled. But then after a few moments I said. “Um, but yeah. Good point.” 

Chancellor Underbough sat up. “Raven, are you familiar with the Rule of Two?” 

“Um. No?” 

“I’m not surprised. Many people aren’t.” 

“What is it?” 

“Years ago, the Sith were in chaos. THey were losing the war against the Jedi because they kept killing each other in their own selfish quest for power. This in-fighting was getting out of hand and eventually a legendary sith lord known as Darth Bane established a rule: only two given Sith Lords could exist at one time, a master and an apprentice.” 

“Ohhhhhhhh.” I sat up. “But wait. There’s lots of Sith Lords in this school.” 

“Indeed, now you see the problem.” Underbough got up and paced around the room. “See, I knew that I could be the Master, obviously, but an apprentice… well, that was harder. Wild Sith exists for one reason and one reason only: to discover who is worthy to be the Sith Apprentice.” 

“Ohhh.” I thought about it for a bit. “So Finals…?” 

“Yes. It exists to limit the pool down. From there, I see if any of the survivors seem worthy of my training. And until now… there haven’t been any.” 

“Damn that sucks.” And then after a few moments it hit me. “Wait, you said until now??” 

“Yes.” He put his cloak over his head and stood on his desk. “Raven Willow Blood Charm, you have what i desire to be my next apprentice.” 

WOAH WTF?? I get to be Underbough’s apprentice??? I didn’t even know that was possible!! lIke it wasn’t something I even wanted… but if it could make me more powerful well, then…. Why wouldn’t I take it?

“I accept!!” I yelled. 

“Good. Very good.” He smiled. “Now kneel before me.” 

I did as told and got out of my chair and kneeled. He stood over me and unsheathed his light saber, placing it on my shoulder. 

“From this moment forth, I do hereby grant you the title of Darth Raven. Now rise, apprentice.” 

“Yes, my master.” He unsheathed his lightsaber and I stood up and looked at him. 

“Now,” He sat back down at his desk. “I’m ready to give you your first assignment.” 

“Hell yeah!” I sat down in the chair. “What do you need me to do, Master?” 

“Well, as we said, the Rule of Two hasn’t been properly fulfilled. Do what you can to take care of it.” 

My heart stopped. I gulped. He didn’t mean… did he? I spoke in a very low voice. “I’m sorry, what do you want?” 

“Do I need to spell it out for you? I need you to kill every Sith in this school. You can do that, correct?” 

“Um, yeah! Of course I can!” I stood up and bowed. “The Rule of Two must be fulfilled.” 

“Very good, my apprentice.” He smiled at me. “Be as messy as you want. I expect to hear back from you soon. Good day.” 

“I’ll see you soon, my Master.” I walked out of the Master Underbough’s office and stopped for a bit, going over everything I just heard. The cogs in my brain were turning. Okay. How was I going to do this?

After thinking it over for a few minutes, I figured it out. I smiled, put the cloak over my head, and unsheathed one of my lightsabers as I began to make my way back to Darthis’ office. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you wanna see the rule of two fulfilled


	106. cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i feel like I need to come clean to Alec

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Delnys said in her posh european accent, rubbing her temples, clearly just as pleased to see us as we were to her. 

“Oh, uh, hey Delnys!” Mira said, walking up. She spread her arms out for a hug and then changed her mind and instead held out her hand for a shake but then changed her mind again and held her hand in the hair for a high five. Delnys did not return it. 

“Get her away from me!” Macavity yelled in my arms, scratching at my hands, trying to wiggle his way out. Luckily i was very good at subdoing him so I just continued to pat his head until he relaxed a bit. 

“Delnys, pleasure seeing you again, I guess.” I smiled at her. 

“Nope. Can I have the cat now?” Delnys held out her gun. 

“Hm, this little guy? Maybe.” I walked around her. “I think we can make a deal. You want this cat dead, right? Well we want a favor from you.” 

“No. I hate you all. Why would I do you a favor?” 

“Because all the universes will be destroyed if you don’t,” Winsler spoke up. Then he tipped his hat. “Oh, by the way, hey Delnys. Good to see you again.” 

“Hey, Winsler. Good to see you too.” Delnys turned back to us. “I take it this is about my father?” 

“It is.” Mira gulped. 

“Well, fuck him. I never want to see him again. Just give me the goddamn cat.” 

I sighed. “Delnys, you don’t understand. Now I don’t know what petty squabble shit you and him have gotten into, I know he’s a dick so I don’t blame you for not caring, but we have to think sensibly about this. Elrich needs to be taken down by both necromancy magic and a reality emerald and I think we can knock two birds with one stone here.” 

Delnys lowered her gun. “What do you mean?” 

“You want this cat dead. We want a reality emerald and you to work with us. So if you want to, say, kill this cat right now, boom, I get the emerald, you get your weird revenge thing and then you can help us out and then idk fuck off or something.” 

“WHAT?” Macavity stopped purring from the scritches and began to shake. “You can’t kill me!” 

“He’s right!” Mira yelled. “Remember what I said? A reality emerald has already been created here. If we kill Macavity in this universe, it’ll just destroy this universe.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine. Let’s just take him to the Old Yeller universe or something and then, y’know.” 

“NO!” Macavity yelled as he teleported and reappeared on the table. “I will not be… killed like some pathetic street cat! I am Macavity, the Napoleon Crime!” 

“I don’t even want him dead,” Delnys said as she got out her gun and aimed it at him. “He knows what i want from him.” 

“Oh?” I looked over at the cat. 

Macavity laughed. “Yes! Yes! You can’t kill me! Because I still have this!” I waved his paw around around and a small red ball of energy appeared. I recognized it. That was Mira’s soul. 

“That’s what this has been all about…” Mira said, softly. “You want her back.” 

“Yeah, no shit.” Delnys put one foot up on the table as she got out a cigarette and lit it. 

“I’m sorry…” Mira said almost under her breath. Fuck, poor girl. 

I huffed. “Okay, well, fine. Macavity, give Delnys back Train Mira’s soul.” 

“No!” he yelled, almost in a whine. “I can’t!” 

“Why can’t you?” 

“Because… because I need it!” 

I rolled my eyes. “Why could you possibly need it?” 

“It’s… it’s my only chance to get a new life!” 

“How? The only reason you needed it was to find the Heart and that shit is long gone.” 

“I… well…” Macavity stammered and curled into himself. “I need it because… because… how else am I gonna stay relevant?? If I give it up, I’ll be killed and tossed aside and I’ll never even get a chance of a new life!” 

I sighed and sat down on the table next to him. “Macavity, why do you even want a new jellicle life?” 

“Because… because it’s not fair! Everyone else gets one! Everyone gets a do over! And look at me! I’m old! My ginger fur is gray! I’ve never had an owner and never been to a jellicle ball and never gotten a chance to just be anything but a criminal!!” 

I began petting him. “Aaaaand you think you need a new life to do this?” 

He leaned into my hand and rubbed his head against it, instinctively. “Of course I do. Nobody would ever forgive Macavity.” 

I shrugged. “I forgive Macavity.” 

He hopped back. “You w-what?” 

“I forgive you.” Delnys gave me a stink eye but I just made sure to ignore it. I leaned over to him. “Plus I’ve never had a pet before. Could be cool.” 

The furr on Macavity stood up. That interested him. “What… what are you saying?” 

“I’m saying do you want a human?” 

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you fucking with me, Elm Rune?” 

I put my hand on my chest. “Cross my heart, dude. No trick. I’ve seen Winsler and Mr. Wiggles and that looks fun as hell. Now do you want to be my pet or not?” 

He hopped in my lap. “Okay, Veronica. I believe you. BUT! I will not let my guard down so easily. I won’t just… hand over Train Mira’s soul. Not to that blonde woman, whatever the fuck she even wants with it. It’s just a useless soul now.” 

“Yeah that’s a good question,” Mira said as she turned over to Delnys. “What, um, do you want with it?” 

Delnys flicked her cigarette and a bit of ash fell down on the ground. “I want to bring Mira back to life.” 

“Do you actually know how to do that, Raethran?” I said as Macavity began walking all over my shoulders. 

“I do. Or at least, I think I do. It’s a lead my patron told me about. All I need is Mira’s soul and I can leave.” She tossed her cigarette butt away and it landed on the floor. Winsler had to shoo away Mr. Wiggles, who was trying to eat it. 

“Well then it’s settled!’ I stood up and held Macavity in my arms, cradling him. “How about this: Macavity, you give Delnys Mira’s soul, I keep you as a pet, Delnys you go and revive Train Mira and then you stay here and help us fight Elrich?” 

Delnys thought about it for a second. “Fine. I guess that sounds like a deal.” 

“I’m not going with her!” Macavity yelled. “Not alone. Who knows if she’ll let me return??” 

“Then I’ll come to.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt you. And then you can hand over the Soul when we’re all there. Got it?” 

Macavity looked at me in anger which on his weird cat face just looked like a pout before finally he relented. “Fine. Sure. Whatever. I’ll give up this stupid soul.” 

“Um.” Mira spoke up. “You don’t mind if we come too, do you?” 

Delnys stood up and put her gun in her holster. “Actually, I do mind. But fine. Whatever.” 

“Yeehaw! Field trip!” Winsler stood up and adjusted his hat. “So, uh, where’re we going?” 

Delnys closed her eyes and opened up a portal. “Another universe.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad macavity got an owner


	107. escape to the city

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: “alec, there’s something i need to tell you. I’m not…. Exactly who you think i am. I did a lot of soul searching and realized i’m actually a boy. My name’s Mason. I’m sorry. I should have told you a lot sooner. I hope this doesn’t make you think less of me or hate me. I can totally understand why. But i do really like you and i hope we can continue seeing each other and if you have any questions feel free to ask me.” 
> 
> Is that okay?? That’s what i texted to alec

We hopped through the portal and ended up in what looked like a destroyed city (i’m going to assume, i’ve never seen an actual city before). There were a lot of tall metal and stone and glass buildings, most destroyed, some still standing, some tilted, and some just fully knocked over. It all smelled like dirt (and weirdly enough sulfer) Dam. What the fuck even happened here? This was some bad shit. 

“Soooo Raethran, any reason you took us to this piece of shit universe?” I asked her as we walked through the destroyed city streets. 

She kept her head forward and kept walking. “Because this piece of shit universe contains our only hope of bringing Mira back.” 

I stepped forward, trying to keep up pace with her. “Okay, but, you know bodies are hard to come by, right? I remember Seltie told me that the first time I ever tried to bring back a Mira.” 

Mira slunched down, crossing her arms and looking at the floor. 

“Yes. And through her info, I was able to figure out an alternative method that could work.” 

“Wait. You know Seltie?” Winsler asked. 

“Unfortunately, yes. Made a deal with the bitch so I could cross universes without my dad around. Also asked her some questions to help me find my patron who helped me figure out where this was.” 

“Uh-huh. So you sold your soul too then?” I smiled and then my smile dropped. “Seems like a few people are doing that these days. So what the fuck is up with you and Elrich? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Does anything need to be up?” Delnys said as we climbed over a toppled building. I grabbed Mira and Winsler’s hand and helped them hop over to the other side of it. “Dad.. he’s different. He was so focused on his dumb god object plan.” 

“And you don’t care about that at all?” Mira asked. 

“No,” Delnys said bluntly. “I just want her back. That’s all I ever wanted.” 

“And so you aided someone who wants to destroy everything and blue up a train.” I patted her on the back. “I would say I get it, that I’ve also done some fucked up things to bring back people I care about, but… teaming up with a villain is something I’d never do.” 

Delnys stopped walking, turned to me, picked up my hand off of her shoulder, and pushed it back towards me. Then she continued pacing forward. 

Macavity was walking by my side. He looked around at all the ruins with a look of wonder in his eyes. And then that was replaced by boredom. “I’m tired. Human, carry me.” 

I huffed. Was this what owning a cat was like? Fuck, what fucking commitment did I make? Gonna ask Winsler to make me a coat with a pocket to carry this asshole in (even though that would be very not fashionable) 

Cradling Macavity in my hand like a furry baby, I kept looking around, hoping to find anything even remotely interesting or that stood out amongst the rubble. “What the fuck are we even looking for?” 

“It’s not what. It’s who,” Delnys said. I was really tired of her doing all this cryptic build up bullshit, like honestly just tell us what the fuck the plan is so that I know what I’m getting myself into. 

Thankfully, soon we found something visually interesting. 

Okay, I say thankfully even though it was kinda horrifying 

It was a pile of skeletons. At least a couple hundred of them, though tbh I wasn’t gonna count because that seems really hard and also I never learned to properly count beyond 7. 

Winsler coughed. “Um, Delnys, I have bad news. If you’re planning on using these bodies, they’re already skeletons.” 

“Well maybe she wants to make a skeleton Mira!” Mira yelled. 

“Ew.” Macavity shivvered. “Imagine kissing a skeleton Mira.” 

I tried to imagine what that would be like but before I could really dwell on it for too long, something caught my eye. It was a glowing yellow pile of goo on the ground, in between a skull and a femur bone. I don’t know why it called to me. I’ve never really been a goo person. But yet… when I saw it… it was like I could feel some yearning from my stomach, some desire to get it. It was a sensation I had felt recently. Something I felt with the Earth Angel. 

Suddenly the yellow goop hopped up and, almost as if it was being vacuumed up, sucked itself into my stomach. I stumbled backwards a bit, almost tripping on some guy’s pelvis, before managing to find my footing. I could feel the yellow goop flow through me and then it stabilized and I was able to stand up again. 

I knew. It was recharged. The yellow emerald. I had gotten my transformation powers back. 

“Ohmigosh!” We heard a voice say as we turned around. Standing behind us was a feminine figure made out of some type of purple goo. “DId my excess goop just absorb into you? Gawd, that’s so embarrassing.” 

“Um, it’s fine.” I said, awkwardly. “And who ar-”

Delnys interrupted me. “Are you the oblex?” 

The goo creature just laughed. “Wow, someone gets straight to the point. I guess that’s technically what I am, but I would really prefer if you just called me Jellifer.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what could this mean


	108. a sticky situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i know alec has read the message because it says he read it three hours ago but he hasn’t responded yet ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fucking hell mason you fucked this up goddamn it why do you always do this

“Jellifer?” Winsler said, squinting his eyes. 

“Ohmygawd!” Jellifer yelled. They rushed over to Winsler and rubbed his cheek. “Winsler Wallaby! If I do live and breathe!” 

“Ummmm” Winsler said between pulled cheeks. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” 

“Oh, um, I guess not! I’m going to assume you’re a Winsler from another universe? See, I was dating the Winsler from this universe for a while before I absorbed him.” They laughed and changed their form to more resemble Winsler, perfectly.

“You… absorbed him?” Winsler started shaking a bit. 

“Yeah! Fed off of his memories and everything! Now his memories and thoughts live inside of me, along with everyone else!” 

“Everyone else…?” Mira raised a brow and looked at the skeletons around. 

“Oh yeah! Everyone else! I sorta went… well, a little bit overboard.” They giggled a bit. 

“How many people’s memories did you absorb…?” I asked, a bit nervous. 

“Oh gosh… I think everyone from this universe? Except for the guy who created me, Bailey Blue. Can’t seem to find him anymore.” They changed from looking like Winsler to a more masculine version of their previous form and then they walked over to me and looked at Macavity and began to pet him. “And I take it you’re Mr. Wiggles? Oh I have a lot of Winsler’s memories about you.” 

Macavity tried to scratch them but instead just ended up getting goop on his paws. “Don’t touch me again, you vile brain sucking gelatin.” 

“Wow, okay, rude!” Jellifer stepped back. “Anyway, I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been STARVING ever since I ran out of food.” 

“We’re not here to be eaten, we’re here to get shit done.” Delnys stepped forward. “I need you to do something for me.” 

Jellifer looked over at Delnys. “Ah, yes. You’re Delnys Raethran. Older. A little meaner than this universe’s was. So what could you possibly want?” 

“You can absorb memories right?” Delnys said. 

“Yes.” 

“And when you absorb those memories, you can create a perfect replica of the subject, correct?” 

“Well, someone paid attention in class.” They smiled. “Okay. Where are you going with this?” 

“I have a soul that needs a body. If we bind it to some of your goo, will we be able to bring her back to life?” 

Jellifer thought about it. “Fuck if I know. Why would I want to do that?” 

“Because I need your help.” Delnys said. 

“Yeaaaah not a good enough reason,” Jellifer said. “Honestly I’m halfway tempted to just, like, eat you now? I’m very bored.” 

“Wait!” I yelled. 

“Oh!” Jellifer walked over to me. “Gonna be honest; have no fucking idea who you are. Never met a version of you in my universe.” 

“Yeah that’s because there’s nobody else like me.” I smiled. “Anyway, I know why you wouldn’t want to just eat us.” 

“And why’s that?” 

“You said it yourself. You’re really fucking bored.” 

Jellifer rolled their eyes. “Maybe I am. So what?” 

“You eat us, that’s what? 5 minutes of pleasure? Maybe you get some memories. You’re full for a bit. But then what? You’ll be forever wondering, fuck, what if I did that? Would that have worked?” 

“Hmmmmm.” Jellifer stroked their chin. “Y’know, that’s a good point. Really good point. On the other hand, though, like… new memories are fun.” 

“Well hold on a second!” Mira yelled. “You already ate all of us here from this universe, right? What do you think will happen if you get two of everyone’s memories in you? You’l go fucking mad. Trust me, I know.” 

Jellifer thought about it. “Then I’ll just eat this one. The brunette girl.” 

“Fuck no you’re not!” I yelled. 

“Well you don’t want to do that either!” Mira yelled. “See, like, Veronica has some of your goo in her, right? ANd if you ate her, that would be, like…. Autocannibalism. And you might get your own memories back and who knows what’ll happen.” 

Jellifer thought about this for a second. “Hm. Y’know, that’s a good point. But these are all reasons why I shouldn’t eat you. Not why I should help you.” 

“Well.” Winsler stepped forward and spoke up. “Why not?” 

Jellifer smiled and walked over to Winsler. “Ah, there’s that Wallaby charm I’ve missed. I’ve had his memories but… gosh, nothing like the real thing.” 

Winsler blushed and then got quiet for a bit. “Do you ever regret it? Eating his memories?” 

Jellifer’s smile dropped. Their shoulders slouched. “Every day.” 

“Well, here I am, as a Winsler, asking you to do us a favor. And I hope you can find it in your heart to do that.” 

Jellifer looked at us and then looked back at Winsler and then looked at us and then back at Winsler. “Okay fine. Whatever. I’ll help y’all. But only on the condition that this Winsler takes my business card so we can meet up again.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh glad winsler could save the day on this one


	109. they danced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec responded. He said that he was upset. That he wished i told him sooner. That he felt lied to. And he was going to have to take a few days to recover. But then he sent another text. And said not to worry. Because “i still love you, Mason”

“Alright, so uh, how the fuck are we going to do this?” Jellifer said, looking at me. 

“Why’re you looking at me? It’s blondie’s fucking plan.” I pointed over to Delnys. 

Delnys walked around. “So my patron did a lot of studying of oblex biology. As much as could be done without samples, at least. And there’s something worth a try.” Delnys got out of a knife. “Jellifer, what happens if some part of you is cut off?” 

“Um. Then it becomes goo. And I can recollect it if I want.” They paused. “Additionally, I can make tiny creatures if I want to. I can give them individual memories, if I so desire.” 

“Okay so here’s what we’re going to do.” Delnys walked over and raised her knife and cut off Jellifer’s arm. 

“OW! What the hell?” They said. “You could have at least given me a warning.” 

“Sorry,” Delnys said as she picked the arm and held it close to her chest. As she did, the arm began dissolving, taking on a yellow-ish appearance, as if it expired or something. Delnys turned to Macavity. “Cat, do you have the soul?” 

Macavity rolled his eyes and waved his hand and the red ball of energy appeared. “Yes. Of course I do.” 

“Okay so before I do this, just want to warn y’all!” Jellifer stood in front of us and waved her two arms, one of them normal size and the other slowly regrowing. “I have no idea what this will actually do. There’s a chance that the soul’s memories will just become a part of me and absorb into me.”

“I’m willing to take that chance.” Delnys said as she balled up the goo into one orb. “Cat, are you ready?” 

“Sure, I guess.” Macavity rolled his eyes. He was so fucking rude. I was going to have to figure out how to train cats just so I could punish him when he tried to pull shit like this. 

“Alright, so on the count of three, we’re going to throw them together, okay?” Delnys squatted her legs a bit and held her arm behind her, like a pitcher at the dirt or whatever the fuck pitchers stand on idk i don’t follow baseball. “Ready? 1. 2. 3.” 

Delnys threw the goo up into the air. Macavity threw the red energy. And the two collided, creating one orange form that fell to the ground. The red energy surrounded the goo as it began shifting and shaping and moving. Occasionally you could see a hand pop up and then form back down. Once I think I saw a mouth and teeth rise up and extend as if screaming and then settle back down. 

“Oooh does anyone have any popcorn?” Jellifer said, scooting next to me. “This is intense.” 

Slowly, the goo rose more and more. No longer just a puddle on the floor, it was now standing taller, slumping over a bit, It still looked unformed though, like a tube of clay you roll in your hands. It wiggled around, back and forth and back and forth. 

“Come on… work….” Delnys cursed under her breath. “Fucking work.” 

Some small things began to poke out of the side. They almost… looked like pointed ears? But then they retreated back into the body, which was still rocking and shaking bubbling and wiggling side to side. A long strip of goo began to emerge from the side, and then the other sides. They continued sculpting themselves, the ends breaking off to create five fingers, the rest of the arm sculpting itself to look more like, well… an arm. The same thing was happening at the bottom, as a gap formed in the middle of the goo’s base and two legs slowly formed and then hips and then a chest area. 

Finally, the top of the goo began to create a small cylinder. And that small cylinder began to become more defined, features being gradually chiseled in. A nose. A mouth. Teeth. Two ears. The curly hair. A place where eyes would be. The orange tone of the goo began to change now, taking on something different. Something browner. At least on most of the goo. What looked to be the WIld Cliff Express uniform was forming on the goo’s body and soon enough a figure that looked very familiar was standing before me. 

Two white globes formed in the holes of the eyes. Eyelids formed and the goo blinked. It looked around. It… she…. Looked exactly like Mira. 

She looked at all of us and then looked up at the tall blonde european girl. “D-Delnys?” 

Delnys said nothing, just wiped away tears from her eyes and wrapped her arms around her and placed her lips on Train Mira’s. And the two stood there for a bit, sharing an embrace, as if they were the only two people in the world. . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad Train Mira is back!


	110. who the hell are you people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec and i had an animal crossing date and it was really nice c:

It was a bit before the two broke their embrace and Train Mira turned and locked eyes with me. Her eyes grew wide. 

“Veronica!” she yelled. “Get away from him! Don’t you know who that is?” 

“Huh?” I looked down to see what she was talking about and remembered that I was holding Macavity. “Oh, no worries now, he’s chill now.” 

Macavity meanwhile smiled and hopped out of my hands and strutted over to Train Mira. “Well well well. It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Marchand? You are my Mira aren’t you? It’s so hard to keep track of all of them nowadays.” 

“All of them?” Train Mira raised her brow and looked around, her eyes landing on Jellifer then Winsler and then finally… Mira. And I could see her jump a little bit. 

“Um, hi!” Mira said, trying to sound excited and friendly but nothing could really stop how fucking awkward this all felt. 

“Hey? Um, sorry, but… who the fuck are you?” Train Mira turned to Delnys. “Darling, what’s going on here? What happened?” 

Delnys just sighed. “Mira, how much do you remember?” 

Mira yelled out. “Oh I remember all of i-” 

“I wasn’t talking to you, Fake Mira!” Delnys yelled and then she turned back to Train Mira. 

“Um…” Train Mira scratched her head. “I was… on the train… in the train cart… talking to Macavity and then…. I was here.” 

“Oh….” Delnys held her hand. “Oh dear, there’s so much to tell you.” 

Train Mira put her hand on Delnys’ face and traced the various cuts and scars. “Delnys. What happened?” 

Delnys just turned to us, that same look of disgust on her face that I was used to seeing from her recently. “Ask Veronica.” 

Train Mira just looked at me and y’know, like, when you feel guilty for things? Like it’s a feeling I’ve grown used to but now it’s was even more than it had been in a while. “Um. A lot has happened since you… went with Macavity. I sorta… put another Mira soul in your body.” 

“You did  **_what_ ** with my body??” 

“I, um… look, I needed a cover and I needed to make sure Delnys wasn’t sad and that nothing happened so it was the best case scenario.” 

“Yeah and look how well it turned out,” Delnys growled. 

“I’m sorry!” I yelled. “I really really am sorry, it was a real dick move. I wasn’t thinking at the time” I paused for a bit, crossing my arms. I feigned a smile. “But it all worked out in the end, right?” 

Train Mira seemed to ignore me as she walked over to Mira and inspected her. “So… I take it this is it, right? My body?” 

Mira shrank into herself, as if trying to make herself invisible. “Um. Yeah… I guess so…” 

Train Mira backed away and shivered. “And then… what does that make me?” 

“Oh! I can answer that!” Jellifer yelled, reminding us that they were still here. “You’re goo!” 

“I’m…. go?” 

“Yes! Part of my goo system now! Well, independent of it but, y’know… like me.” 

“Uh-huh… I… I see…” Train Mira sighed and rubbed her temples. “How long have I been gone?” 

“A few years,” Delnys said. 

“Or a few weeks,” I added. “Time has been really fucked up recently.” 

“Oh geez…” Train Mira walked back over to Delnys. “So… you probably graduated from Wild Cliff Express already, huh?” 

There was an awkward silence. I decided to break it. “So who’s gonna tell her? Because it sure as shit ain’t gonna be me.” 

“Tell me what?” Train Mira looked around. Her eyes started to water.. “What the fuck is going on here??” 

“Honey, look.” Delnys grasped Train Mira’s hand tenderly. “I know this is a lot to take in. But you have to hang in there. For me, at least.” 

It pained me to see Train Mira like this. I mean, she wasn’t MY Mira. But she was my friend at one point. And it made me feel really… bad? Seeing her like this? “Hey, um, Delnys. I think it’s time we head back now.” 

Delnys looked at me and I expected her to be snarky or say something mad but instead she just sighed and opened up a portal. “Yeah. That seems like a good idea.” 

“How long have you been able to do that??” Train Mira gasped. 

“Okay well bye I guess??” Jellifer yelled. 

“Oh!!’ Winsler ran up to them. “Your business card, please!” 

Jellifer blushed as much as goo could blush and formed a card out of the goo on their hand. “Um, here you go,” they giggled. 

Winsler took it and stuffed it in his pocket next to Mr. Wiggles. He walked back over by me. I just looked at him, a small smile. “You’re really gonna talk to them again?” I whispered to him. 

“Yeah! I mean… I’ve been feeling a bit lonely ever since my boyfriend Kurt went away in my prime universe.” 

Huh. Kurt. Something about that name sounded familiar. Did I know a Kurt? Eh, whatever. I’m sure he’s not that important. I walked over to Mira, who was still shivering a bit and walked with her through Delnys’ portal back to the Patter castle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you think Train Mira deserves a pat on the back


	111. up to speed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I still think about mom and cry sometimes. But things… they’re okay right now

We walked back into the main meeting area, right across from the table and the whiteboard. Train Mira seemed a bit disoriented and grabbed onto a chair for comfort. Delnys wrapped her arms around her. “This is your first time universe hopping, isn’t it?” 

“Universe hopping??” Train Mira said, sounding sick and worried. “We changed universes?” 

“Oh you poor poor girl,” I said, sitting down at the table where Delnys had left her pack of cigarettes and took one out and lit it. I took a drag. “I am… so fucking sorry.” 

Delnys walked next to me and gave me a stink eye but also took out a cigarette and lit it. “Honey, why don’t you just get some rest? You’ve had a long day.” 

Train Mira shook her head. “No. no no no no no. I wanna know what’s going on here.” 

Mira placed her hand on Train Mira’s shoulder. “Hey, I know how… weird this can be. I’ve kinda been in a similar situation.” 

Train Mira shivered and pushed the hand away. “Don’t touch me like that!” 

“Like what?” Mira said, stepping back. 

“Like… with my own body! That’s mine!” 

“Oh… I’m… sorry…” Mira took a few more steps back before leaving the room entirely. I wanted to chase after her but before I could Train Mira yelled at me. 

“Veronica! What the fuck is the deal?” 

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. “Oh, uh, hey. What all do you need explaining?” 

“Everything, Ver,” Train Mira huffed. “Just… everything…..” 

“They lied to us, Mira,” Delnys said, coldly. She took another drag of her cigarettes. 

“Who did?” 

“Veronica, mainly, but all of her friends lied to me afterwards.” 

Train Mira looked at me. “What does she mean by that?” 

“I, um… I’m not Veronica Sonya Elm Rune.” I took another drag of my cigarette and sat down in a chair. “I mean, I am, but… The Veronica you knew. She was a fake.” 

“A fake? How?” 

“Remember Raven? That girl Elrich told you to wake up?” 

“Yeah, what about her?” 

“She used my chaos emerald powers to transform my body, turn me into another person, and rewrite everyone’s memories on the train to believe that Professor Elm Rune and his daughter Veronica existed.” 

Train Mira rubbed her head. “Then… I’m sorry, who are you?” 

“I’m Veronica. Well, I mean… I’m technically Raven’s clone, but…. I’m Veronica.” 

Train Mira sighed. “Okay. Um. Okay. And you.” She pointed to Winsler. “You’re not Inspector Winsler, are you?” 

Winsler perked up a bit. “Um, nah, I’m not. How could you tell?” 

“You have a gun on you. Inspector Winsler would never use guns.” Train Mira kneeled down to his level. “Are you the same type of Winsler as that Mira was?” 

“Um, if by the same type you mean from the same universe, then yes.” Winsler looked very nervous and scared. 

Train Mira walked around in circles. “So, um… where’s Winsler’s soul? Our Winsler? Can’t we bring him back?” 

Delnys sighed. “No. I don’t have the souls on me.” 

Train Mira turned to look at Macavity. It took him a second to realize what she was insinuating before he got on two legs and waved his paws. “Hey! Don’t look at me! I don’t have their souls this time!” 

“Well if you don’t, who does?” Train MIra asked. 

Yeah that was a good question. I never really asked myself that. I just kinda hoped they were somewhere nice. Fuck, I hope they were okay. 

“I know where they are,” Delnys took another drag. 

“Oh?” Train Mira sat beside her. 

“Seltie has them. She told me so herself. Took them as exchange for you all’s SWIM souls” 

“Oh cool,” I said. “So we just go there and get them back somehow.Maybe do another cooking contest?” 

Delnys just laughed, almost like a snort. “You actually think that’ll work?” 

“I mean, it worked last time.” 

“Yeah, but how long has it been since you’ve seen Seltie? Woman is super into souls. She’s not going to let that go anytime soon.” 

“Like I said, Raethran. She let them go last time.” 

Delnys just shrugged. “Maybe she wanted you to have them.” 

I thought about it for a second. What the fuck could that have meant? I shook my head. “Whatever. We can try to cross that bridge when it comes time to cross it. All I care about right now, Raethran, is if you’re willing to keep your promise and help us kill Elrich.” 

“Wait!” Train Mira yelled. “You all are doing what?” 

“Oh yeah, you remember Elrich, right? Delnys’ super intense and weird dad?” I took a final drag of my cigarette and flicked the cigarette butt in the trash can. “Yeah, he’s alive again and trying to destroy all of the universe.” 

“How’d he come back to life?” Train Mira asked herself, almost rhetorically, before her eyes turned to Delnys. “You… you didn’t, did you?” 

Delnys looked down. “You wouldn’t understand.” 

Train Mira just huffed and walked over to the cabinets and began opening them and searching everything. “Fuck, where is it?” 

“Where’s what?” Delnys asked, leaning forward. 

“Alcohol. This castle must be big. It has to have some.” 

“Oh, um, I can help with that!” Winsler said. He buzzed his lips really loudly and a tiny swarm of bees came into the room. 

“Yezz,, my queen?” the bees asked. 

“Find my friend here something alcoholic to drink, if you don’t mind.” 

“Aye aye!” the bees yelled and then flew away. 

Delnys walked over and slammed the cabinet door Train Mira had just opened. “You’re really going to drink? Now? At a time like this?”

“Let’s be real, sugar, if there was any good time to drink, now would be the time.” 

“She’s got a point!” I said, shrugging my shoulders. 

Train Mira just sat down on the table. “So. What happened to the train? It’s clear something happened to it.” 

I looked at Winsler who looked at me who looked at Delnys who looked at Mira before finally we went to look at Train Mira. I wasn’t sure who was going to talk first, but fuck it, sometimes you got to rip off a bandaid while the wound is still bleeding. “It blew up.” 

“It blew up? How? I didn’t think that was possible.” 

Winsler just twiddled his thumbs. “Elrich, um… he got a hold of The Heart of the Wild Cliff Express.” 

“Oh. Oh god.” Train Mira covered her mouth. “That’s why the headaches are gone…. So he used it to blow up the train?” 

I looked over at Delnys, who was being weirdly silent. “Go on, Raethran. She’s going to find out at some point.” 

Train Mira shifted her eyes over to Delnys. “Find out what?” 

Delnys took out another cigarette and lit it and took a long drag. “I blew up the train.” 

“YOU DID WHAT?” 

“I blew it up.” 

“Honey. Why?” 

“Because I was upset, okay!” she yelled, tossing her cigarette on the ground (which was a total waste since she had just lit it). “I had just been fucking gas lit for weeks, my dad had just come to life, and I had just found out that you had basically died! So I did what I could to fucking end that train and free me and do what I could to go on the path to save you!” 

Train Mira was silent for a moment. She breathed in heavily through her nose and then softly exhaled. “How many survived the train crash?” 

“I don’t know…” Delnys said, under her breath. “As far as I know, just us and Phillip Maisel.” 

“Actually…” i awkwardly added. “Phillip… was in Pitter when it… y’know.” 

Delnys turned her head to me sharply. “Phillip is dead??” 

“I’m sorry. I really am.” I picked her cigarette off of the floor and handed it back to her. She took it gently in her hand and then it fell down again and I didn’t feel like bending over to pick it up anymore. 

Train Mira was silent for a few moments. I can’t imagine the mindfuck she was going through right now. I’ve been in weird ass situations too and I’m sure this was a lot for her train mind to deal with. Finally, after what felt like minutes, she spoke up. “How many people have you killed, Delnys?” 

“They were all for you, darling,” Delnys said coldly. 

Train Mira was just silent in response. Thankfully, the bees came in soon, keeping things from being a bit too tense. They dropped a bottle of whiskey down next to her. “Whizzzkey for the lady.” 

“Thank you,” Train MIra said as she opened up the bottle and raised it up to her lips and began to take a sip. Though as she did, something was… off. I could see her body bend and contort, almost like rubber, as it began to lose its color and turn purple. There was a slushing sound as the liquid seemed to go through her body and as it did, the purple distortion in her body followed, finally ending down at her feet, where drips of liquid fell down on the floor. 

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking KIDDING me!” Train Mira yelled as she threw the bottle of whiskey across the room and got to her feet, the second Mira of the day to storm out of the planning room. 

It was sort of silent for a few minutes, none of really feeling like saying anything. Finally I scooted out of my chair and stood up. “Well, this has been fucking torture. I’m going to go take a nap. Hopefully all of… this…. Is solved by the time I get back.” 

“Whatever,” Delnys said. 

I walked out of the room and made my way back to the vanity room I was in earlier today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: well. That was awkward


	112. bringing back the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: we’re going to have to be going through mom’s house and pick up all my old stuff and whatever else we want to take that was hers

I stood in the full length mirror positioned next to the vanity. God, this room was fucking wild. This was some bougie ass shit. And Serinepth just… lived here for a few days? Goddamn, no wonder she went all in on the rock fascism. 

I looked at myself. My makeup from this morning was still great, as to be expected. My brown hair and my small frame complimented me nicely. But… 

I looked down at my stomach and saw a tiny yellow glow from the inside of it. I had gotten them back. My transformation powers. 

I looked at the mirror once more and focused on my image. I made my hair longer and straighter, like I was, and then changed its color to purple. I changed my face details a bit and made my skin paler and my face darker and my boobs bigger and shifted my clothes to an all white corset goth get up. 

This was… her. 

Me. 

This was how I used to look. 

Fuck, that felt like forever ago. I inspected the details of my face. It was interesting, tbh. I tried as hard as I could back then to differentiate myself, but now, really looking at it, there was still so much of Raven in this face. I had to admit, it was a kind of cute look. 

But

It’s not me. 

I changed my hair back to brown and made it shorter and tanned my skin a bit and changed my clothing. There I was. Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. I smiled. 

I felt a presence behind me at the door. “Serinepth, if that’s you again, I swear to god I’m not using your make up this time.” 

“Um, no, it’s me…” I turned around to see Mira, our Mira, standing there, the door awkwardly creaked open. “Um. Can I come in?” 

“Oh, yeah, of course!” I said. “How’re you holding up?” 

She plopped down on the bed. “Oh, y’know. Badly.” 

I sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. “Yeah. I feel that.” 

“You should’ve just left me dead…” Mira mumbled into the bed. 

“What??” I flipped her over. “The fuck did you just say, Marchand?” 

“You should’ve just left me dead!’ she yelled loudly, tears in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. “I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t ask to be put in someone else’s body!” 

“And I’m sorry, okay? But I did what I had to do!” 

“You didn’t HAVE to do it, Veronica! But you did!” 

“And you know what? I would do it again if I had to.” 

“You’re so fucking selfish.” Mira sat up and crossed her arms. 

What the fuck was she talking about? Me? Selfish? “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You did this for you…” Mira said. “Reviving me. You can lie and say it was to keep appearances, but you did it for you, didn’t you?” 

I scowled at her and took a deep breath. “And so what if it was?” 

“Don’t you understand, Ver? Everything that’s happened, our universe being destroyed, Delnys being upset and blowing up the train, Elrich dying and being brought back to life… this all happened because of you.” Mira looked away from me. “This is all your fault.” 

“I….” I tried to think of words to say but instead I just found something… strange happening. Wet liquid falling down. I raised my fingers to wipe it away and saw that it was clear liquid. Not blood, like when I used to cry. 

Mira noticed this and turned her head back to me. “Hey, Ver. Are you okay?” 

“I...fuck… I’m so fucking sorry.” I wiped my nose with my wrist. “I’ve fucked up so much in the past and I’m just trying to fix everything and do it right but it’s all so hard. It’s just so fucking hard. And I want forgiveness but I don’t deserve it and I betrayed you and Train Mira and Delnys and I’ve hurt so many fucking people so many fucking times and I just don’t know what to do make it better.” 

“Oh geez.” Mira picked part of the blanket we were sitting on and rubbed it on my face to wipe away the tears. “I.. I… I accept your apology.” 

I hiccuped a bit and took a deep breath. “Thanks…” I said, quietly, drifting off. “How’s my makeup look? Is it ruined?” 

Mira giggled. “Um, a bit.” 

“Well, hold on.” I gave her a light smile and she looked down as my stomach glowed and then, if it worked as intended, my makeup would be good as new again. 

“What the fuck??” Mira yelled, laughing. “That’s so unfair!” 

“Hey, sorry, if you want god powers, maybe next time you should try finding them all.” 

“Maybe I will,” Mira giggled. I was glad she wasn’t crying anymore. I hated seeing her cry. After a bit she stopped laughing and got serious again. “Do you think… she’ll ever forgive me?” 

“Who? Train Mira or Delnys?” 

She was silent for a beat. “I guess both.” 

I huffed. “I think so. Once the dust settles and everything ends up okay. They can’t stay mad forever. I mean, even you forgave me, right?” 

Mira thought about it for a second. “Yeah. I forgive you.” 

“Then yeah. I can’t see why they wouldn’t. It’ll take… some getting used to for sure. And some work. But then again, what doesn’t?” 

“Fair point…” Mira trailed off. 

Suddenly the door creaked open again. I looked to see who it was but I couldn’t see anything. And then a small figured jumped onto the bed. I rolled my eyes. “What do you want, Macavity?” 

“Elm Rune, I am very bored. And also the tension out there was too intense.” 

“And what do you want me to do about it?” 

“I want you to pet me, human.” 

I rolled my eyes again while Mira reached out her hand and began to pet the gray cat. He seemed to object at first and then didn’t care too much as he settled down and closed his eyes and relaxed for a bit. It wasn’t long until we could hear him snore (could normal cats snore? I still don’t know what the fuck Macavity’s deal is) 

Mira looked up at me. “Are we still planning on… y’know, offing him?” 

“Hm?” I thought about it for a second and looked down. “I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be, like, shitty to betray the promise we made to him?:” 

“Yeah but… if we don’t get the reality emerald from him, who will we get it from?” 

That was a good question. I have no idea. How the fuck were we going to get a reality emerald? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review with your theories on how the fuck they’re going to get a reality emerald


	113. a plan to execute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: sorry it’s been a while, i’ve been busy, i hope you understand <3

I walked through the walls of Wild Sith, cloak up, a lot on my mind. There was…. A lot to take in. Take a deep breath, Raven. Take a deep breath. You can do this. 

I kept my cloak covering my body, my lightsaber to my side, still unsheathed, its red glow illuminating the hallway as I walked down. The sound of the heels on my boots echoed through, reverberating, the only bit of sound in the place. 

It was dark. Wild sith was usually dark, sure. Most of exogul was. But… it was almost as if the lights had been shut off entirely. Did Chancel- Master Underbough do this? 

I approached back to Darthis office. I caught my breath and held it in. I thought about everything. 

I exhaled and opened the door. They all kinda stared at me. 

“Um, Raven?” Mi’ra asked. “Mind telling me why you’re lightsaber is unsheathed?” 

“Yes, I’m quite curious about that myself,” Darthis said. 

“Oh, um…. That was…. That was…. For cover.” I looked down and retracted my light from my saber. “In case people saw me on the way down here.” 

Iniquity raised a brow. “Mind telling me what’s going on here?” 

“Yeah!” Winslayer yelled. “The fuck did Underbough want with you?” 

I felt a drop in the center of my stomach. How was I going to do this? How the fuck could i tell them something like this? 

“Okay, so, um… Underbough made me his apprentice.” 

Darthis’ face turned red. “He made…  _ you  _ his apprentice?” 

“Holy shit,” MI’ra said. “That’s so wizard.” 

Iniquity squinted. “So then what’re you nervous about?” 

“Ummmmmmmm.” 

“Spit it, Blood Charm!” Iniquity yelled. 

“I already know,” Darthis said, calmly. “The Sith rule of two, is it not?” 

I breathed in through my nose. “I mean…. Yeah?” 

“Hm.” Darthis leaned back. “I always figured it would come to this.” 

Darthis suddenly took out his saber and unleashed it and then jumped over his desk at me. Luckily my force skills are really fucking good so I was able to dodge out of the way and get my two sabers out and slice him down the middle, leaving him dead on the ground. 

“HOLY SHIT!” Winslayer yelled. 

“You really just can’t stop killing people in the school, can you, Blood Charm?” Iniquity said. 

“Okay look, that’s the thing,” I said as I put the sabers away and turned to them. “That’s what I was ordered to do. I was told to kill every surviving Sith in the school until it was just me and Underbough.” 

“Then… why aren’t you doing that?” Mi’ra questioned. 

“Because….” I sighed. “Because that’s not what I’m here for. That’s not my mission. I’m here to train to kill Clone Raven, not to become some grand Sith apprentice.” 

“You killed all those other students though,” Winslayer said, standing on the desk so taht he was eye level with the rest of us. “Why not us?” 

“Because….. Because…” I huffed. “Because you’re my…. My….. my…. ugh . My friends. And I don’t want to see you get hurt.” 

Iniquity just chuckled. “Friends? You actually have friends, Blood Charm?” 

“I’m trying to save your lives here!” I yelled. 

“As if you could kill me!” Iniquity yelled in return. 

“Actually she could probably kill me,” Winslayer said quietly. 

Mi’ra was silent for a few moments before she spoke up. “So what do you suppose we do?” 

I sighed. “That’s the hard part. I need to leave here. It’s not safe for me anymore. Plus, my ride is gone. So there’s only one way out: the blue staff in Chancellor Underbough’s office.” 

“There’s a blue staff in Chancellor Underbough’s office?” Mi’ra asked. 

“Yeah, I think I heard that’s what he uses to kick students out the window,” Winslayer commented. 

“Okay so, genius,” Iniquity got up close to my face, so that I could feel her breath on mine. “This staff is in his office. How do you supposed we get it?” 

“Well, I came up with a plan before i came down here. And… I don’t know, maybe it could work?” 

Iniquity squinted her eyes. “Will it?” 

I had to be honest. “I don’t know. But you have to trust me.” 

Iniquity squinte her eyes somehow even more and then a smiled came across her face. “Okay. I do.” 

“Alright.” I smiled back at her. “Then let’s do this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip darthis


	114. a plot to destroy the sith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m so sick of being inside all the time. I want to hang out with my friends

I knocked on the door to my Master’s office and wiped the blood off of my face. The door opened by itself and I saw Master Underbough, sitting at his desk. 

“It is done?” he asked, eyebrow raised. 

“Yes, my master.” I took a knee in front of him, trying to remain as still as I could, my body trembling slightly. 

“Good. Very good.” He stood up from his desk and walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Raven, I am so unbelievably proud of you.” 

“Thank you, Master Underbough.” 

He patted my shoulder affectionately, like a person who didn’t know how to pet a cat. “I sense a great confliction in you, Raven. Tell me. What is it?” 

I gulped and in my head I rolled dice for deception. “Well, you see, Master, lately I’ve been having these… dreams lately.” 

“The prophecy, am I not mistaken?” 

“Yes. Well, besides that, it’s like…. The force is screaming at me. It’s been happening ever since i killed that Jedi scum.” 

Thankfully because that was only a half lie I got advantage on my deception roll and ended up getting am 18 which was enough to get him to believe me. 

“Ah yes, Severepth. What filth.” Underbough sat back down at his desk. “Raven, it bears reminding: the force exists as something to be conquered and controlled. If it is fighting you, then you simply must strike it down.” 

Almost as if on cue, the door opened. 

Standing in the doorway was the injured bodies of Mi’ra, Iniquity and Winslayer. They walked with limps. 

“RAVEN YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” Iniquity yelled. “YOU REALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD KILL US THAT EASILY?” 

“Well well well, if it isn’t the rest of The Black Parade,” Underbough said, slightly smiling but also slightly pissed looking. “What an unfortunate surprise.” 

I frowned and looked at Underbough. “I’m sorry, my Master. It appears my work isn’t finished after all.” 

“Apologies are accepted, my apprentice.” Underbough smiled. “Now Darth Raven: complete your training.” 

I unsheathed two of my three lightsabers and stood up. The group all took there’s out and approached me. This was it… the final fight. 

Iniquity swung first but I dodged that and then Winslayer went for the legs but I jumped up which was enough time for Mi’ra to use her lyre saber to aim at my midriff (which was already exposed because it just looked sexier that way) and it made a light little scuff on my stomach. We kinda kept like that for a while until they had me cornered up against Underbough’s desk. I landed on top of it. 

“Master….” I said, looking up at him. “I’m not…. I’m not going to fail you!” 

“Well you’re doing a really good job at failing me,” he scoffed. “Go ahead. Fucking attack them.” 

So I gripped my two sabers tightly and swung them above my head - right into Underbough, cutting off both of his arms.

“What… what the fuck??” he screamed. 

“NOW!” iniquity yelled as she hopped over me (her boot right next to my face, almost hitting it) and swung down, stabbing Underbough right through the head. Mi’ra and Winslayer slid under the desk and cut off his legs. 

I sat back up and looked down at the pile of limbs and body on the floor. It twitched for a bit and then stopped moving. And then, weirdly enough, there was a blue glow and it covered my eyesight. Once it was gone, I looked down to see that where Underbough’s body once was was now a small bowl of glowing blue candy. 

I held it in my hand. 

“Um, what’s that?” Mi’ra said, looking at it. 

“Ummmm,” I looked down. “I think…. It’s a really emerald.” 

Just as I said that, the ground began shaking. WEll, everything began shaking. I looked up at the ceiling. What once was a perfectly normal spooky dark rock castle ceiling quickly turned into a bunch of cracks, as if it had just shattered glass 

It reminded me of… 

Home. 

“Oh fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,” I said. 

“Um, Raven?” Mi’ra asked. “What’s happening?” 

“There are two reality emeralds. This universe is dissolving.” 

“What?” Winslayer asked. 

“I swear it makes sense, my universally erased sister explained it to me. Look, we have to go now.” 

“Go? Where are we gonna go?” Iniquity said. 

Um. That was a good question. Where were we gonna go? All we had was our lightsabers, whatever was in Underbough’s office, and this bowl of reality candies and that was pretty fuckin useles….. 

UNLESS

I took all the candies and shoved them into my mouth and swallowed. 

“Hey! I wanted some of those!” Winslayer whined. 

I wasn’t really listening to him though. I was too busy feeling the fucking power of the cosmos and reality itself go through me. Holy shit. Is this what clone me felt? This felt pretty fuckin good, ngl 

Finally it seemed to settle down. I looked at the others and waved my hand and Underbough’s cabinet glowed blue and then unlocked. “Grab the staff,” I told them. 

Iniquity walked over and grabbed it. Meanwhile, I opened a portal and began to walk through it. “You three should be able to use that to go anywhere you want. Try to flee somewhere safe for now. I’ll try to find you later.” 

“Hey wait!” Mi’ra yelled as the ground began shaking even more. “Take us with you through that dumb portal thing!” 

“Nah,” I said, smiling at her. “I have a clone I have to find. And I have to find her alone. I’ll text you later, k?” 

Iniquity blushed a bit. “Okay.” She waved her staff and another blue portal appeared. 

As the cracks in the universe grew more and more, a part of me wished I could go back to my room and get some of my things like my “I Hate U Clone Raven” bootyshorts. But there was no time. Instead, I watched as we each stepped through our respective portals, leaving the decaying universe behind us. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip Chancellor Underbough and rip to the entire Wild Sith universe


	115. the artisan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I brought as much of my stuff I could bring from mom’s house. Dad also packed up some things too. The rest… we don’t know what’ll happen to the rest.

Serinepth was nervous. Why was she nervous? Then again, the better question is why wouldn’t she be nervous? After all these years, serving for the great nation of Patter, only to have that illusion ripped away from her and to have to turn on the very people who took her in. 

And now her old high school friends were here but they were all young, the same age she was when she hung out with them. And it made her feel… strange. It wasn’t her fault, was it? Not like she had the power to control time. 

Still, as she looked over at the orange face of her cousin, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit strange. 

Integrity must’ve felt strange too, as she turned to Serinepth. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” 

“Huh?” Serinepth said, playing dumb. “Like what?” 

“Like you haven’t seen me in years?” The Integrity laughed. “Well, I guess you haven’t. Fuck up shit, huh?” 

“Yeah, haha.” Serinepth forced a chuckle and kept walking, making sure to keep her proper posture and back straight. 

“Cool gown,” Integrity said, eying her up and down. “Looks fancy as hell. I always knew you were rich but, like, damn. You wear this whole ‘princess’ thing well.” 

“T-thanks,” Serinpeth said, blushing. 

“Granted, in like a… rock fascist princess sorta way…. Though i guess saying fascist princess is sorta redundant, depending on one’s view of monarchies. But yeah, cool dress!” 

“Um…. I would… greatly appreciate if you stopped calling me a fascist.” 

“Why? Did you not support fascists, orrrr…..?” 

“I… I was….” Serinepth turned red. “Things were…. A lot. I was very… how do you kids say it? Fucked up? Very fucked up.” 

“I see.” Integrity stretched out her arms as they continued to walk down the fancy hallways of the castle. “Well, luckily once we defeat Elrich and solve all this stuff, we can leave and go find some home or Wild Cliff to go to and settle down in some other universe.” 

Serinepth stopped walking. “Um, Integrity. I don’t plan on leaving.” 

Integrity stopped too and turned around. “What?” 

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love you all and I missed you dearly. But… Patter is my home now. I’ve spent seven years of my life here. And I want to stay and do what I can to make it better.” 

“But….” Integrity looked down at the ground. “What about SWIM?” 

  
“What about swim?” Serinepth asked. “You mean, like, swimming? Because we have pools on the lower deck.”

Integrity just sighed and kept walking forward. “So where is this medical office, anyway?” 

Serinpeth picked up the pace as fast as her heels would allow her. “Oh, it should be coming up soon! Here, it’ll be the second to last door on the right.” 

They kept walking until they reached it and Integrity opened the door, slamming it wide open. A very bandaged Artis groaned and sat up quickly. He turned and looked over at Integrity, taking a moment to register what he saw. “Am I in hell?” 

“Oh, no!” Integrity smiled. “But that’s a common response people have when they see me! Artis! I missed you!” 

“Oh” Artis said bluntly, shaking his head a bit. “It’s you. Integrity, correct?” 

“The one and only!” Integrity said, even though she knew there were several other Integrities in multiple universes. 

“What are you doing here…?” Artis asked, his voice trailing off. He shook his head more. “What am i doing here… what was…. Oh god. Mara. Fidan. Where are they?” 

Serinepth lightly coughed and walked into the room. “Um, Mr. Artisan. That’s what we’re here to try and find out.” 

“Ma’am. Please. You have to tell me where my family is.” Tears were welling up in Artis’ eyes. 

“I….” Serinepth trailed off. “Elrich took them. I’m sorry. There was nothing we can do.” 

“But I swear on my life, I’ll save Mara,” Integrity said. “Promise.” 

Artis inhaled deeply. “You really think you can do that?” 

“I can try.” For once, Integrity looked… serious to Serinepth. There was an intensity there, a type that she had never seen in her cousin before. It took her by surprise, if she was to be honest with herself. Serinepth composed herself. “Um, Mr. Artisan. You and Elrich were childhood friends, if I’m correct?” 

“We  _ were _ ,” Artis groaned. 

“So you more than likely know him the best out of everyone here. Tell me, anywhere that you think he could’ve gone? Any place he would retreat to?” Serinepth asked.

Artis rolled his eyes. “If I knew that, I would be there, killing him one final time for real.” 

Serinepth examined the condition Artis was in and thought that the odds of Artis against Elrich were… slim. 

Integrity huffed. “So you really don’t know?” 

“No.” Artis said, bluntly. 

“Alright, well, back to plan one,” Integrity said as she walked out of the room. “I’m gonna go hop to some random universes.” 

“WAIT!” Artis yelled and Integrity turned back around. “If you’re leaving, take me with you. These white walls are exhausting.” 

Serinepth wasn’t quite sure what he meant. She had always thought the walls of the medical room were calming. But who was she to critique an injured man’s feelings? “Are you sure it’s best for you to leave bedrest in your current state?” 

Artis turned his head to her. “Ms. Sinderman, is it not? My wife and daughter have been kidnapped by a genocidal zombie. I want to be there at the table hearing every update. Is that understood?” 

Serinepth gulped. “Um, yes sir, Mr. Artisan. I’ll have one of the servants bring you a wheelchair and we’ll get you out of here right away.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh that was tense. Leave a review if you thought that was tense


	116. change of plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad gave me a box of mom’s things. Said I might want to look through them. I haven’t touched them yet.

Serinepth walked besides Artis, who was currently in a wheelchair being pushed by Integrity. It was a mostly silent walk, save for the occasional sounds of Integrity grumbling in a low voice. Serinepth couldn’t quite hear it, but she was sure she could hear something about “ _ this isn’t fair why do i have to push the chair serinepth has longer legs she should be the one to do it”  _

Serinepth didn’t pay it much mind, nor did she dare look at the grump Artis in the face, as she strutted across the halls and back to the initial planning room. She held open the door as Integrity pushed the wheelchair through. 

As they walked in, they noticed the vibe of the room was different. The most obvious was that nobody was there. The second was that there were several several several cigarette butts on the ground and what appeared to be a smashed glass bottle that had been thrown against the wall, the liquid getting all over the nice rug. 

“Oh dear, the servants are going to have a field day cleaning this up,” Serinepth said in a low voice. 

“What happened here?” Integrity said aloud, positioning Artis’ chair at the table and looking at everything in the room. 

“Oh hey,” said a depressed but familiar but even more depressed than normal voice. They turned around to see Mira standing in the doorway,, though something about her looked… different. “You’re that… Lady Integrity woman. And Serinepth. Though I take it you’re not my Serinepth either, huh?” 

Serinepth wasn’t quite sure what this meant. Lady Integrity? Sure, Integrity could have lady status some day, but she wasn’t quite there yet. And what did she mean  _ her  _ Serinepth? She sat on this for a while before Integrity gasped. “Wait. Are you… Train Mira?” 

“I prefer to just be called Mira, thanks,” the woman, who I guess was called Train Mira, sat down on a well padded chair against the wall. “You look good Serinepth. What brings you here?” 

“This is my castle technically. And what are you doing here?” 

Train Mira chuckled. “I’ve been wondering that myself too.” 

Integrity sat down backwards in a chair. “Yeah, like, I’m a bit behind on my lore, but aren’t you supposed to be, like, gone?” 

“I wish I was. But nah. I’m not gone. Just goo.” Train Mira sighed and Serinepth wasn’t quite sure what I meant. “You don’t mind if I make noise, do you?” 

Serinepth turned to look at Artis. “Well, we did bring an injured patient here and this is the planning room. Perhaps you can find another place to-?” 

“No. Let her make noise,” Artis said, looking away from everyone. 

Train Mira just shrugged. “I figured out how to do something neat. Wanna see?” She held out her hand and a blob of goo seemed to come out of her skin and float in air. Then the goo reformed a bit, transforming shape until it looked exactly like a lyre. 

“Woaaah that’s weird as shit!” Integrity yelled. 

Train Mira just ignored the comment and began playing, first just some basic scales and then the pentatonic scale and then a melody Serinepth recognized as Drunken Sailor and then another one, a nice slow and calming melody that was actually quite relaxing to hear. 

At least, it was relaxing for most of them in the room. 

Artis tensed up and turned his chair around, looking at Train Mira intensely. “Where’d you get that melody?” 

“Hm?” Train Mira looked up. “My music professor, Elrich, taught it to me. Why?” 

Artis huffed. “That’s the melody I taught him. It’s a song I wrote for my wife.” 

“Oh wow,” Train Mira said. “He said it was a song a friend of his taught him. Guess that’s you. Your name?” 

“Artis Artisan. And yours?” 

“Mira Marchund.” 

Artis made a noise, almost as if he was recognizing that this was yet another Mira he had met recently. “Well, what are you waiting for? Keep playing?” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Of course. Can’t quite do it myself, can I?” Artis held up his bandaged stub of his hand. 

Train Mira smiled and continued playing the calming melody once more, almost humming something ontop of it. 

She was so into the moment that she hadn’t noticed the blonde woman standing in the doorway. To be fair, Serinepth didn’t at first. It was only when Train Mira opened her eyes for a brief moment to make sure Artis was still watching that she noticed the figure in the corner of her eye. She stopped, which caused Serinepth to turn around and see the face of… oh, who was it? Someone she had known a long time ago. 

“Delnys. What’re you doing here?” Train Mira said, hostility enveloping her voice. 

Delnys! Delnys Raethran, Elrich’s daughter. Of course. How could Serinepth forget her?

Delnys crossed her arms and looked down. “I heard you playing. It’s been a while since I’d heard that one. It’s still quite lovely.” 

“Whatever,” Train MIra rolled her eyes, though if Serinepth didn’t know any better, it almost looked like the girl was blushing. 

Delnys turned her attention away from the half elf and looked at everyone else. “Well. Serinepth. Integrity. Long time no see.” 

“Delnys! Hey!” Integrity walked up and shook Delnys’ hands. “Long time no see. You look older too. What’s up?” 

“Um. Nothing. What?” Delnys was taken aback by this. 

“Oh, uh, Artis, where are our manners?” Integrity stepped out of the way so that Artis could see the blonde girl. “This is an old… friend(?) of ours, Delnys Raethran.” 

“Raethran?” Artis said. 

“Yes?” Delnys looked down at him, confused and almost as if she was ready to attack. 

“Relation to Elrich, I presume?” 

“He’s my father, yes.” 

“Oh shiz that’s right!” Integrity yelled and then the cogs in her head began to turn. Almost literally. It was like Serinepth was looking at a machine booting up. “Wait! Delnys!” 

Integrity grabbed Delnys’ wrists tightly. She almost punched back on instinct but instead she just screamed. “Ah! What the fuck??” 

“Do you know where you father is??” Integrity yelled in her face. “Or where he would take prisoners?” 

“Of course I know where dad is,” Delnys rolled her eyes. “I always know.” 

“You do??” Integrity said, her mouth forming into something similar to a smile. 

“Yeah. He made a version of our manor in some universe.” 

“So you can take us there?” Integrity said, now fully smiling. 

“Fuck no,” Delnys said coldly, pushing Integrity’s hands away. 

“W-what…?” Integrity responded back in a low voice. 

“There’s no way I’m going back to see him again. At least, not anymore than I already agreed upon.” 

“But… but…” Integrity was kinda stammering. 

“Delnys,” Artis spoke up. “My daught- your sister and her mother have been taken your father. We need to save them before anything bad happens.” 

Delnys sat down next to Train Mira, who looked away from her, and lit a cigarette. “My condolences. But I’m not going anywhere near there. Last thing I need is him getting involved in my business again. I’ll only see him again when I’m sure that we can kill him.” 

There was a moment of silence before Integrity spoke up. “Well, just tell us where his hideout is and then we can do it.” 

Delnys raised a brow and took a puff. “You really want to get them that bad? You realize how hard stealthing around that place will be, right?” 

“I’m not going to leave her alone, Raethran.” 

Delnys sighed. “Fine. But if you two die during this, that’s on you.” 

Integrity walked over to the bag of rings on the table and handed one to Delnys. “Okay, so if this works how I think it works, just throw the ring while thinking about where you wanna go? I guess? And then we’ll be able to go there.” 

Delnys rolled her eyes and threw the ring and suddenly it expanded in mid air, making it just as tall as the door. Serinepth moved so that she could look at it head on. Rather than the other side of the room, the portal appeared to show the main foyer of a nice mansion. It was…. Strange. 

Integrity attached the bag of rings to her belt and then turned and looked at her. “So? You coming with me or am I doing this alone?” 

Serinepth looked at the portal and gulped. She was… nervous. But nevertheless, she said, “Of course. Ready when you are.” 

Integrity nodded and slowly, cautiously, stuck one foot through the hole in the ring. The image of the foyer fizzed as Integrity went through it and she sent the rest of her body through. Suddenly, Serinepth could see the image of Integrity on the other side, moving like looking at someone through the other side of water. Serinepth took a deep breathe and, as best as she could in the gown, took a step through the ring. Unfortunately, she was wearing heels, so she stumbled a bit when it came time to actually touch down on the floor. Fortunately, however, her cousin caught her and kept her upsteady. 

“There we go!” Integrity smiled at her, making sure she was properly balanced as the ring closed behind them. “Now, let’s go find Mara.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you wanna wish them luck!


	117. a little field trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i was going through some of mom’s old things and found a bunch of journals she had saved from high school. They’re filled with lots of short stories and poems. Did mom like to write too? Why did she never tell me?

I was laying in bed, throwing a ball up towards the ceiling. Things were boring in the manor. Of course, it didn’t help that I hadn’t left the room in a while. Occasionally mom would stop in here to check up on me, but, well, that was a few days ago. 

Gosh, it was all so boring. It wasn’t even torture. Just, like, really lame. 

My tummy grumbled. Ugh, Mara. you were gonna have to eat soon. But also I don’t wanna leave this room and see Elrich. Instead I just kept throwing the ball up in the air, until I would get bored of that. 

At least this room wasn’t the worst place to be. I went ahead and looked through some of the cabinets and drawers and stuff here and found a lot of cool stuff, like some nice black outfits and cool makeup sets and stuff like that. 

Would it be weird to say I tried some stuff on? I mean, she’s like…. My half sister so that’s allowed, right? 

Regardless, trying some on made me realize that I looked really really good in black and also I was super tired of my Whatever clothes. I hope that when we go home, dad lets me buy some cooler outfits or something. Maybe I can actually go clothes shopping for once? I don’t even know what I would buy though. I’d need someone there to help me… 

I thought about stopping my ball throwing and trying to practice makeup again when someone knocked on the door. “Mom?” I yelled. 

“No,” came the low growling voice on the other side of the door. Ugh. Elrich. 

“Go away!” I stopped throwing the ball up in the air and laid on the bed, arms crossed. Suddenly at the corner of my eye, I noticed a figure phase through the door, almost as if it didn’t exist. The figured materialized and suddenly Elrich was standing in the room. 

“No,” he said. 

I rolled my eyes. “Leave me alone.” 

“You’ve been in here a week, Mara. I thought you would be hungry.” 

“I’m not.” I turned my head to look away from him. I couldn’t stand to see his stupid decaying zombie face. But then my tummy rumbled again. 

“Your stomach betrays you, little one,” Elrich smiled and sat down on the bed. He pulled out a bottle and twisted open the lid. He held it up by my nose. It smelt… fresh. Different from normal, but fresh. 

“Who’d you get this from?” I said, giving him a stink eye. 

“It doesn’t matter.” He paused. “They’re not dead, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

I gave him a stink eye a bit more. I don’t trust this dude as far as I could throw him (and I can throw him pretty dang far) but nevertheless, he was right. I took the bottle and got a tiny sip out of it. Enough to sustain me for a bit. He held it out a bit more, waiting for me to take more and when he realized I wouldn’t, he sighed and closed the bottle and put it back in his coat pocket. 

“Get your shoes in,” he said as he stood up from the bed. “We’re going on a trip.” 

“I’m not going on a trip with you,” I growled. 

“You don’t have a choice.” Elrich smiled. “Consider it father-daughter bonding time.” 

I wanted to tell this guy that he can tick off but then he faded away for a brief moment and before I could even blink, he was back carrying that super huge filing cabinet he had. “I need you to carry this for me. Please.” 

This dude wasn’t going to let up so I rolled my eyes and grabbed the filing cabinet. It was heavy, even for someone as strong as me. “What the heck??” I yelled. 

“I know, I know. But it’ll help you build strength. Now, let’s go.” Elrich waved his hand and a blue portal appeared in front of us. “After you.” 

I huffed as I waddled me and this filing cabinet through the portal, Elrich following behind me. When we emerged from the other side, we were in the middle of what looked like a desert. I looked around to see if there was anything interesting, beyond just the large amount of sand and the crashed long wheeled vehicle. 

  
Wait. What? 

“You can go ahead and set that down, dear,” Elrich said as he put his hand on my shoulder. I did as told and let the filing cabinet hit the ground. It took me a second to even register that, because I was still looking at the weird wreckage. Elrich must have noticed this. “Ah. It is…. Strange to look at, isn’t it.” 

“What is it?” 

“It’s a train.” Elrich said. “The Wild Cliff Express, to be exact.” 

“That’s a train!?!?” 

“Yes. The same train that your mom and I met on. There are… a lot of memories of this place.” Elrich inhaled deeply. “Shame it’s gone now, though it was what had to be done.” 

“I… no… I….” I grasped the silver necklace I was wearing and looked at the filing cabinet. “What are we even doing here?” 

“I need to set this down here. It needs to be in this universe.” Elrich took the filing cabinet and set it down next to the train. “I have reasons to believe the pieces are in place for the next step of everything.” 

“What does that even mean??” I said, frustrated. This dude was cryptic as heck. “What’s even in that thing?” 

“All of the god objects I’ve collected so far.” 

My brow raised. “And we’re just… leaving it here?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why?” 

“Because they need to be here for everything to work out.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“You will, in time.” 

“And we’re just… leaving them here, right by the ruined train?” 

“Correct.” 

“What if someone else finds it?” 

“They won’t. The universe won’t be around long enough for them to.” 

“I… what??” 

“And even if someone did find it, they couldn’t unlock it. Not without my type of power. And they won’t be able to take it anywhere else.” 

“Uh-huh. I see.” I rolled my eyes. “This plan you have? It’s not gonna work.” 

“Do you even know what my plan is?” 

I paused. “No.” 

“Then you can’t be so sure, can you, little one?” Elrich smiled and walked back over to me. He patted my shoulder affectionately. It made my skin crawl. I looked around. I wondered if I could use this moment to run away. Here I was, back in the WIld Cliff Express universe (I think). I could do it. I could just run away. But then as if Elrich could tell what I was thinking, he tightened his grip on my shoulder.

“C’mon. Let’s go.” He opened up a portal and guided me through it, leaving the desert night behind us. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review with your guesses for what he’s planning


	118. an intruder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Mom died before she could learn about me. I don’t want that again. I think I have to go ahead and do it. I think I have to go ahead and come out.

We stepped through the portal and back into the bedroom. I laid back down on the bed but before I did, Elrich pulled me by my shirt collar. 

“Wait,” he said. 

“What the crap??” I yelled and then he pointed forward and I noticed what he was noticing. The bedroom door was open. And there were two sets of footprints on the ground, one with thick soles and the other with dainty heels. 

“It appears we have visitors.” He released his grip from me. “Mara, get in bed and stay in your room. I’m going to go investigate.” He walked out and closed the door behind him softly. So, um. Screw staying in bed. I went and I opened the door quietly and snuck out. I couldn’t quite see him, but maybe I could find the intruders before I found him. I mean, how hard could it be? 

I tried to follow the tracks but eventually they stopped. Ugh, how did rangers and other things do this? I just kept walking slowly, trying not to make a noise that would get Elrich to notice me. And then suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind and put her hand around my mouth. 

I tried to scream and fight back and bite the hand but then I heard a familiar voice whisper in my ear. “Shhh. Mara. It’s me.” 

I relaxed a bit and turned around. What greeted me was the familiar orange face and smile. “Integrity!!” i yelled as whisperly as I could as I wrapped my arms around her into a hug. “What’re you doing here?” 

“Rescuing you, duh.” Integrity ended the hug and looked at me. “Are those new clothes? That’s cool. Black suits you.” 

“You think?” I smiled and then shook my head. “Wait. There’s someone else with you, right?” 

“Yeah, Serinepth. She’s looking for your mom right now. Now I need you to do me a favor and be super quiet. We can’t let Elrich find us, okay?” 

“You say that as if I can’t hear names, Idleberry.” 

We turned around to see the blue skinned figure standing there. His hands were glowing blue. “I’m going to need you to step away from my daughter now.” 

“Nah.” And then she cast thaumatergy and made a blur of lights appear that seemed to blind Elrich and then used some weird disconnected hand to pull up his nose. “ALRIGHT MARA RUN!” She grabbed my wrist and ran with me, down the hallways and staircases until we bumped into a very tall dark hair figure. 

“AH!” I yelled as we stumbled over. It took a bit to collect myself. Standing in front of me was a very tall girl I kinda recognized from Patter and another dark haired figure. Mom! 

I could hear footsteps. I turned around. Elrich was getting here, walking slowly but surely, rubbing his eyes. 

“Serinepth, cool cool cool cool.” Integrity reached into her bag and pulled out a ring and threw it at the sky and I could see a weird castle location on the other side. “Now, let’s get our asses out of here!” 

The very tall girl, who I guess was Serinepth, took mom’s hand. “Take my hand, Mrs. Artisan.” 

“I can do it myself,” mom said as she jumped through. Serinepth followed behind her. 

I took a deep breath and began to step through when I felt cold hands throw me out of the portal and back down to the ground. I stumbled up, clutching my side which hurt like heck as I saw Elrich approach Integrity, who was standing in front of the portal. 

“You’d be better off going through that, Idleberry,” Elrich said. “I don’t want you to get hurt here.” 

“I’m not leaving without Mara,” Integrity growled, drawing out her rapier and holding it up to Elrich’s throat. 

Elrich just sighed. “Fine, then.” And then he vanished from where he was and reappeared behind Integrity. Before she could even realize what was happening, Elrich’s made his hands glow bright blue again and pierced them through Integrity’s stomach. As he retracted his hand, a giant fist sized hole was left in her abdomen. She fell over and hit the ground. 

Elrich turned and smiled to me. “Well. Sorry about that, little one. Let’s get you back to your room.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh no Integrity :(


	119. The Death of Integrity Idleberry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i went ahead and posted it. I changed my name on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram to Mason. Now we just… sit And wait.

I looked at Integrity’s limp body on the ground and Elrich standing over her, the smile still on his face. I grabbed my silver necklace. I…. no… no no no no no. No no no no no no no. 

“Mara?” Elrich said, kneeling down to my level. “You look a bit worked up.” 

I gritted my teeth and looked at him, releasing my grip from the necklace. I pounced. “FUCK YOU!” I yelled as I landed on his head. I grabbed his ear and pulled to the side, ripping his head clean off of his body. With the weight of my body on him, he fell over onto the ground, next to Integrity. I got off of him and kicked him to the side. 

I knew he wasn’t dead. But that should incapacitate him, just for a little bit. Right now I was more worried about her. I got down next to her body and held up her wrist. I placed two fingers on them. My mom used to do this for my dad sometimes, since he had a heart beat. I could feel a light bump. Okay. She still had a pulse. That was good. 

Her eyes moved. She turned to look at me. She tried to make a sound but all that came out was a gargle. This wasn’t good. She didn’t have much time left. I had to do something. I had to. I can’t lose her. I already lost one. I can’t lose her too. 

I tried to think of what I could do. I don’t know anything medically. I never needed to. I could always just heal myself. God, what the fuck do I do? I could take her through the portal but who the fuck knows if they’d even have medical facilities for her there, and if she would even survive that long. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck 

An idea hit me. 

No. 

No no no no. 

But. 

It was the only way. 

I put my fingers under Integrity’s chin and held her head up slightly. “Integrity. I’m going to try something. And I need you to trust me on this, okay?” She couldn’t speak. Her eyes were watering. But she grunted. An acknowledgement, at least. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to bite into your neck and I’m going to need you to bite into mine. Think you have enough strength to do that?” 

Integrity grunted again. I don’t know if it was a good grunt or a bad grunt but…. I didn’t have a choice. It was this or nothing. 

I used my arms to sit Integrity up a bit. She winced in pain as I did, but… not much I can do there. I moved some of the cloak away from Integrity’s collar and left an area of her neck exposed. Here it goes. Here goes nothing. I opened my mouth, bared my fangs, and bit down. 

I could feel the blood go in my mouth. It tasted… good, but that wasn’t important. This wasn’t about feeding me. This was about getting her better. Yet as I kept biting down, I kept waiting. And waiting. C’mon Integrity, you can do this. 

And then I felt a slight twinge of pain on my neck. Puncture wounds. Good. Very good. 

We kept it there like that for a bit. I wasn’t sure how long this lasted. I’d never done this before, only heard about it from my mom and other vampires in Whatever. But I guess the ritual was as over as it was going to be, because soon Integrity released her mouth and fell down to the ground in pain. 

I released my teeth from her neck and sat up over her. Her orange skin looked flushed, weak. I was concerned it didn’t work at first. But then her veins popped out and turned black. She continued yelling in intense pain. I looked at her stomach wound. It was partially closing up. I opened her mouth up. Two of her top teeth were elongating, sharpening up. 

Holy crap. 

This worked. 

I held Integrity’s hand in mine. I whispered to her. “From now on, we are sisters, bound by blood.” 

Something to my left caught my attention. Elrich’s body had stood up, the head partially regrown, though without any actual features. Just a lump of flesh on a torso. Still, I didn’t have any time to waste. Sorry, Integrity. This was going to hurt but I don’t have time. I hoisted Integrity over my shoulder and heard her yell in pain. Then, I jumped through the ring portal to the other side, my sister in my arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: RIP Integrity but also Un-RIP Integrity


	120. goofing off and shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: the response has been… really really well, actually. Lots of people have questions, sure, but…. That was to be expected. Let’s just see where it goes from here.

We got a much needed rest that night, thank fuck. It feels like it’s been forever since I got to sleep in a bed. Mira went back to her own room, at some point, which kinda sucked but Macavity stayed here so at least I wasn’t sleeping alone. 

Though fuck, cats are like bricks. They just kinda…. Lay on you and you can’t get up. It’s fucking annoying. But whatever. I’m Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. I can deal with this. 

I woke up the next morning and stretched. Macavity was still asleep so I decided to not bug him. A thought occurred to me: how long had it been since Macavity had gotten to sleep in an actual bed? Had he ever? Damn, that’s really fucking sad. I was at least able to sleep in a bed a month or two after I was created. 

I changed into whatever basic bitch adventuring clothing I could find from Serinepth’s wardrobe (a long coat, a black tank top, white pants, and some knee high brown lace up boots) and set to doing my makeup for the day. Nothing fancy, just some glitter-y purple eyeshadow with a thick wing, fake lashes, a deep brown lip and some heavy contouring on the face. Finally after all that, I was ready to present to the others. 

I waved by to Macavity, even though he was asleep, and walked out of the room and headed back to the main planning area. As I walked in, there was Artis, Delnys, and Train Mira just chilling. Train Mira playing her lyre. 

“Oh hey,” Delnys said, taking a cigarette out of her pack. “You just missed your friends.” 

“My friends?” 

“Serinepth and Integrity. You want one?” She held out her pack of cigarettes and I went to reach for one but as I did, she closed the pack and put it back in her pockets. I huffed and rolled my eyes. 

Coming in the doorway was Mira, still in her pjs, rubbing her eyes. “Good morning.” 

“Morning?” Train Mira said, picking at her lyre strings (where the fuck did she get that anyway?). “It’s still the afternoon.” 

“No?” I raised a brow. “It’s 10 am. I just slept 8 hours.” 

“Bullshit,” Train Mira said. “It’s only been two hours since I’ve been brought back.” 

“Oh god.” I rubbed my temples. Time being fucked was so fucking confusing. I don’t even know what anything is, anyway. 

Train Mira shrugged. “Whatever time it is, my time is the right one. Hey Mr. Artisan, want me to play that one again?” 

“If you don’t mind,” Artis said, his eyes closed, almost in a haze. 

Train Mira began plucking at her strings and played a melody that sounded almost familiar. “Oh, I know that one!” Mira yelled excitedly. “Elrich taught it to me.” 

“Elrich taught it to  _ me _ ,” Train Mira said, huffing. “And Mr. Artisan taught it to him.” 

“Oh yeaaah, I think Fidan said something about that…” Mira said, her voice trailing off. She didn’t notice it, but Artis shivered a bit hearing the name Fidan. She continued. “Weird how this song exists in more than one universe.” 

“Eh.” I shrugged. “Universal constants. They happen.” 

I walked over to the white board we had drawn up earlier and crossed out the necromancer on the board. We had that. But I stared at the reality emerald section. That was… a lot harder. In order to do that, we would need to both find a reality anomaly, someone who wasn’t in the right universe and find a place to kill them that wasn’t here, since that would make this universe go poof. 

How many universal travelers are out there? Are we the only ones hopping around to various places? I huffed. Ugh. Who knew saving the world was so fucking hard? Destroying it was WAY easier. 

I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. Startled, I turned around to see Mira. “What’s up? Got something on your mind?” 

“Hey. It’s nothing. Well. It’s something. It’s. Fuck. It’s the reality emerald shit.” 

“Oh yeah…” Mira released me from her arms and then sat down on the table, looking at the whiteboard. “That’s going to be… super hard.” 

I turned to Delnys. “Hey, you’ve been hopping around universes and shit, right? Do you know anybody we could like… y’know?” I mimed shooting a gun with my hand. 

“Nope.” Delnys took another puff of her cigarette and blew out the smoke. “Don’t necessarily make a lot of friends on the job of cat hunting.” 

“Surely you have to have met SOMEONE?” I asked. 

“Nah. Beyond my friends here and my patron, I haven’t met anyone.” 

“Your patron?” Mira asked. “That’s new.” 

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Train Mira said as she stopped playing. “Patron?” 

Delnys rolled her eyes. “It’s not much. I just met this woman named Kharla and she helped me figure out everything I could possibly do to bring Mira back.” 

An exclamation mark went off in my head, like this ! 

“I’m sorry, what did you say her name was?” I asked, raising a brow. 

“Kharla?” Delnys flicked her cigarette butt on the ground. “What about it?” 

“Oh nothing. But maybe she knows something? Like maybe she has any info or anything we can find out about how to get this?” 

“I doubt it.” Delnys lit another cigarette and I reached out to grab one but she put the pack away again. “She knows a lot but not that.” 

“Wellllll” I tried to play innocent. “It doesn’t hurt for us to ask her, y’know? Can you just tell us where she is?” 

“Please don’t bug my patron.” 

“I just wanna know where she is! Maybe ask her a question! Is that so wrong?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I know you, Veronica. Also don’t bug her.” 

“Please?” 

“No.” 

“If you don’t tell me I’m going to flick shit at you until you do.” 

“N-” She was interrupted by me throwing a cigarette butt at her. “Real mature, Elm Rune.” 

I threw a marker. And then another marker. And a piece of trash I fell on the floor. And I kinda just kept doing this until finally she yelled. “UGH. FINE. Fucking hell, everyone wants to know my important places today. Do you have one of those ring things?” 

“Huh? Oh, fuck, right.” I got out our half of the rings from the table and handed them over to Delnys. She flicked one up in the air it expanded and we could see a bright blue sky on the other side. 

“There ya go. Happy?” Delnys took a drag once more and handed the rings back to us. “I’m not going with you so don’t even ask.” 

“Oh don’t worry, wasn’t going to. Mira. Did you wanna go?” 

Mira seemed a bit surprised. “Um. I’m still in my PJs.” 

“Oh that’s fine!” I smiled. “It won’t be long, should be pretty easy. We’re just gonna ask a question or two and then leave.” 

“Um…. okay.” She breathed in a bit, almost a bit nervous. I handed her the bag of rings. 

“Alright, peace assholes!” I yelled as I walked through the ring portal, Mira close behind me. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh where is this going? Leave a review with your guesses!


	121. a few questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alyssa sent me a text. She just said “i saw that you came out.” I haven’t sent anything to her in a few hours. I don’t know what to do.

We came out of a portal and into a weird…. Really really bright world. Like brighter than anything I’ve ever seen. Lots of green grass with little triangle patterns in it and perfect trees made up of three clusters with three fruits on each. There was a big white building with some orange bricks under it. It was colorful as hell and… disconcerting. 

“Where the fuck is this?” I asked, standing up. 

“I don’t know why you’re asking me. I don’t know.” Mira shrugged and looked around. “Do you know where we can find that person we’re looking for?” 

“I don’t know. She has to be here somewhere, though.” I began to look around. Everything in this world looked… small. Like chibi sized. I started walking down the intricate path system left on the ground, next to the big hedge maze. 

“Um, Veronica?” Mira asked, slightly walking behind me. 

“Yeah?” 

“What’s really going on with this Kharla person?” 

I paused for a second. “What do you mean?” 

“I know you. The way you sounded when you heard her name. You aren’t just planning to ask her questions, are you?” 

Oh geez. Yeah, I would have to explain this. Well…. I’m sure Mira of all people would understand. “Okay, so. Remember all the stuff with, like… Luke and Sarah?” 

“Uh, I think?” She scratched her head. “Like… how there are five people like them.” 

“Exactly. They’re all outsiders to the universes. If you kill any of them, no matter what universe we’re in, you get a reality emerald.” 

“Oh.” She was silent for a moment. “And I take it… this Kharla person… is one of the names?” 

“One of the names was Kharla, yes.” 

Oh.” Another silence. “Are we actually going to… y’know?” 

I sighed. “Maybe. It might be the only way to save everyone.” 

“Oh…..” Mira was silent again. This was really fucking awkward, not gonna lie. 

“You’re not judging me, are you?” 

“No! I mean, I get it but like… I don’t know…” 

“What?” 

“It’s just… killing people like this, for your own gain…. That’s very…. Old you.” 

I huffed. “Where the fuck is her house?” There were a bunch of tiny little cottages, arranged with weirdly elaborate lawns in front of them. Kharla could be in any of them and the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time here just fucking around trying to find someone. 

A small pink horse wearing a polka dotted shirt began to walk by. And walk was right because she was somehow walking on two legs. Do all horses look like that? This universe is disturbing and I wish to leave. Nevertheless, this was our best bet in finding her. Might as well ask something. “Hey you. Horse!” I called over, before realizing the absurdity of trying to talk to a horse. 

“Ohhh hi there! My name is Peaches! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” the horse, who I guess was named Peaches, smiled. Okay so animals do talk in this universe. Then again, I think all of the animals I’ve ever met could talk so… I guess I can’t say I”m too surprised. 

“Hi Peaches.” Mira said. “Um, we’re looking for someone.” 

“Oh? Who do you need help finding?” 

“Someone named Kharla,” I said. 

“Oh! Ms. Kharla! She’s in that house over there!” Peaches pointed her hoove towards a small blue house in the distance up a hill. Ugh. I’m glad I’m not wearing heels. 

“Thanks, let’s go Mira.” I grabbed her hand and guided her up to the hill. God, this universe was weeeeeird. Don’t like it. Don’t like it at all. 

We made our way up the hill and found the house. “Okay. The fuck do we do now?” 

Mira shrugged and just knocked on the door three times. The door opened, but nobody was there. That was… ominous. Is this a trap? Is Delnys gonna kill us? Because I don’t blame her for trying. Nevertheless, we continued forward, walking inside of the house where a nice living room area was on display. 

“Oh this is fancy!” Mira said, smiling. 

“Eh it’s okay.” I shrugged. 

“Oh come on, you can’t say you wouldn’t want to settle down somewhere like here, right?” 

“Ehhh right now I just wanna find this girl and get out.” 

We heard a noise coming from down the stairs. Something… bubbling. And heavy machines going off. That was… worrying. But also a good sign. I looked over at Mira and we nodded and cautiously tiptoed our way down the stairs. 

There, standing in front of a desk and a hot plate with some blue liquid on it, was a woman about our height, wearing a lab coat and goggles. By her side was a small blue squirrel in a beige sweater. The woman was so distracted she didn’t even notice us at first until she screamed a little bit. She recomposed herself enough to ask. “I’m sorry, who’re you?” 

“Oh, uh….” Shit. What was I supposed to say here? 

“We’re Delnys’ friends.” Mira spoke up. I guess that was technically true. “Are you Kharla?” 

“Oh Delnys? Oh I haven’t seen her in, like…. Foreverrrr. And yeah! I’m Kharla! Welcome to my lab!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh she’s here! Leave a review if you’re glad Kharla is in the story


	122. killing the patron

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I haven’t responded to Alyssa yet. We haven’t talked in months. Why would I say anything to her now?

“Your lab?” I squinted my eyebrow. 

“Yes” Kharla exclaimed. “Science lab. Research stuff. Can I get your names?” 

“Um. Sure. I’m Veronica Sonya Elm Rune.” 

“Long name but cool!” Kharla smiled. “And you?” 

“Um. Mira Marchand.” 

“Woaaaaah no shiz? That’s so cool! Delnys has told me all about you!” 

“Oh, um.” Mira looked down at her feet. “She was… probably talking about that other Mira.” 

“Oh. Ohhhhhhhh. Okay. I get it.” Kharla smiled. “Well no worries! All Miras are welcome here. I even know a Mira, back where I’m from.” 

“And that is?” I asked. 

“Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared to know the answer to.” Kharla turned and picked up a thing off the hot plate and gave it over the tiny blue squirrel. “Filbert, I need you to take this sample and observe it under the microscope and make notes over what you see.” 

“But Ms. Kharla!” the blue squirrel who I guess was named Filbert said. “I can’t use a microscope! I don’t have fingers! My hands are just nubs!” 

“Aww, poor guy.” Kharla ruffled his head. “You should just do it though.” 

The squirrel sighed and took the sample and walked over to the microscope. The room was strange. I mean, I guess it looked like a science lab. There was a desk and a bunch of beakers and tubes. A bookshelf. A skeleton display (was it a real one? Would be cool if it was real). A laptop on another desk. A iPod Nano that was currently blasting some song called “What Makes You Beautiful” An open pack of saltine crackers and a bunch of empty boba tea cups. 

“So… what are you working on exactly?” Mira asked, trying to start up conversation. 

“Oh, y’know, nothing much! Just doing research on oblexes for my second doctorate thesis.” 

“Second doctorate thesis?” I don’t know what a doctorate is. Or a thesis. 

“Oh! Yeah, I did my first one on the differing biologies of alternate universe vampires. That was wild. And dangerous!” Kharla rolled up her sleeves to reveal a small bite on her arm. She gave a small chuckle. “Yeaaaah it’s not fun.” 

“Oh shit.” Vampire bites were no joke. I should know, I gave one to Underbough once. I wonder if I could still do that. Am I still a vampire? I don’t even know. I mean, I don’t have fangs. I can walk in the sunlight and I haven’t craved blood. But I didn’t really CRAVE blood when I was first born either. I don’t know. Shit’s weird. I don’t even know what the fuck I am at this point. 

“So you’re working with oblexes now?” Mira asked, taking a seat. 

“Oh yeah! Yeah I think they’re cool as heck!” Kharla smiled. “Oh! Did Delnys ever do that oblex test? About binding a soul to one?” 

“Yeah! It worked!” Mira seemed really enthusiastic, almost as if some of Kharla’s energy was rubbing off on her. Geez, when did these two start to get along? 

“Oh really? Woaaaah that’s so cool.” Kharla wheeled her chair over to a laptop and began to type something in and then rolled back over to where she was. “That’s gonna be really really really useful. I had been waiting for new info ever since Delnys and Bailey went off to do their own things.” She took a sip of boba tea and set it down. “So. What brings y’all here?” 

“Um, well…” The enthusiasm was gone from Mira’s face now. She stood there, kinda awkwardly, turning her head towards me. Fuck. She wants me to be the one to say it. 

“So we kinda… sorta… need to kill you.” 

“Holy shiz. Um.” Kharla clicked her desk pen repeatedly. “Can you, like…. Not?” 

“I mean, it’s not our preference. But right now you’re kinda the only option we have.” 

“Besides her cat,” MIra added. 

“Yeah, besides my cat, but like… that was a whole thing, and….” 

Kharla shook her head. “Okay okay. Let’s start this from the beginning. So why am I the only option?” 

I sighed. “Okay so there’s these things called the chaos emeralds, right? And there are 7 of them and they might be part of this wider group of things called god objects? Terminology is weird. Point is, there’s this particular one called the reality emerald, and with it you have the power to-” 

“Control reality?” Kharla asked. 

“Yeah!” Mira said. “Wow, no wonder you have two doctorates.” 

“Nah, it’s just really easy to figure out. Anyway, so what about this… reality emerald?” 

“Well, the only way to get it is by either killing someone who’s not from the universe you’re currently in, or by killing one of the legendary 5. And well, that’s… you’re one of them.” 

“Ah.” That was all Kharla said for a moment. 

“Yeah.” 

“Huh… Aaaand why do you need it exactly? Like if you just want it just to want it, that’s cool, but also like…. Not?” 

“No no no no no!” Mira exclaimed. “We’re not like that! We wouldn’t kill someone like this just cause!” 

I huffed. “There’s this really bad dude named Elrich. He’s trying to gather up all the god objects to destroy them all, and in the process destroy all the universes. And if we can’t get the power of the reality emerald to stop him, then, well…. We’re all fucked.” 

“Oh geez…. Yeah, that does sound pretty bad.” Kharla sighed. “Girls, I’d love to help you out. Maybe I can find someone from another universe you can take out? Someone it would be okay to... y’know.” She mimed making a shooting motion. 

“Could you?” Mira perked up. “That would be great!” 

“Yeah of course!” Kharla smiled. “I want to do what I can to hel-” 

She didn’t get to finish her sentence, as a dark red blade of light suddenly impaled through her chest. Her body was motionless now as the saber retracted and I could finally notice the blue portal that had formed in the corner of the room. I had barely enough time to notice the assailant though before they grabbed me by my collar and threw me across the room, towards the portal. 

“Veron-” I could hear Mira start to yell but then I passed through and landed on the rubble and dirt of the ground. Ow. Fuck. That hurt. I brought myself up to my knees, where I could see the figure walk through the portal which then closed itself. 

I stood up and dusted off my white pants. I looked across from me and saw someone I hadn’t seen in a while. She looked… different. Maybe a year or so older. A little thinner, but also more muscular. Her skin was even paler and her eyes were a deeper and darker red. Her blue hair was the same though, straight and falling over her shoulders and down her midback. She was wearing some weird black corset outfit with thigh high black boots, fishnet gloves, and a long black cloak. Even for her, it was really gothic. Too much. Is that really how I used to dress? Gross. Learn other colors, fucking hell. 

Raven smiled and lit her up lightsaber again. “Hello Clone Raven. It’s been a while.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip Kharla also sorry kharla, love you, hope this was okay


	123. the confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: “alyssa. I loved you. I still do. But the way you treated me was cruel. You said mean things. And i had a hard time forgiving you. And letting go. And I’m sorry for how I’ve been but also… idk.” idk. Is that okay?

Raven paced back and forward, her gaze never leaving me, as her black painted lips curled up into a smile. “Clone Raven, you do not know how hard it was to find you. Like, for real. I was hopping through so many universes, looking around for ages… but that’s another story for another time.” She tightened her grip on her lightsaber. “I’m just glad for the force. Once I got close enough, I was able to detect you and hop to the right universe.” 

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Okay so first off, my name is Veronica, asswipe. Second of all, can we not do this now? I’m sort of in the middle of something important.” 

“I AM IMPORTANT!” Raven yelled as she swung her lightsaber, having it make contact with the ground and leave a light burn mark. She huffed and breathed in, closing her eyes. “Whatever. Whatever it is you’re up to, I’m not going to let it happen.” 

“I’m trying to save the world, dumbass!” I yelled. God, Raven looked more intense than usual. To be honest, I hadn’t thought about her in a while. Kinda forgot that she was still on this whole… thing. Where did she even take me anyway? I looked around at the area. There was a lot of rubble everywhere, destroyed buildings and dead crops and tiny collapsed huts. On the horizon was a large pile of broken stones. Wait a second… this was familiar….. “Raven, why the fuck did you take us to Pitter?” 

“Because it’s as the prophecy foretold! It must take place in Isathill!” 

“Uh-huh. Well, if you don’t mind you can just teleport me back that would be great, but if not I’ll just walk over to Patter. Should take a few hours or a few weeks, depending on how fucked time decides to b-” 

Before I could finish, Raven threw her lightsaber and it landed in the ground, right next to my foot. “You’re not going anywhere, Clone Raven. This is where you’re fated to die.” 

“I can’t even die, dipshit. And fate is dumb. This is dumb.” 

“You’re dumb! The prophecy is right! You’re gonna die!” 

“What the fuck is this fucking prophecy you’re talking about??” 

“The prophecy! I’ve been seeing it almost every night for a year now! I get this blue haze and then I see you in a jail cell, looking up at me, and then I see a bunch of other random stuff that doesn’t matter right now and then I see me, standing over you in Pitter, you dead! And a voice telling me it must happen in Isathill!” 

“What the fuck? That’s dumb as hell. Me in a…” Wait. Jail cell. That…. When I was in a jail cell. 

It all came back to me. 

And I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Oh Elrich, you motherfucker,” I laughed to myself. “God this is a really fucking stupid plan.” 

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT!?” Raven yelled. “THIS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER!” 

“Raven, you’re getting played.” I tried to compose myself. “Elrich did something to me in the prison cell with his weird blue glowy eyes and his hand. He said I was a great antenna. It all makes sense now.” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Elrich knew you wanted to kill me. He used me to send an image to you to get you to want to kill me here, in Isathill. Because, as Mira kept fucking reminding me, if you die here in Isathill, it’ll create a reality emerald, and since one was already made here, this universe will go kapoot. And since I can’t die, there’s really only one outcome of this conflict, isn’t there, Raven?” 

She stammered a bit, finally blinking. She shifted on her feet uneasily. “That… that’s not true! And it doesn’t matter! Because I’m strong enough! Because I’m gonna kill you!” 

I sighed. “Raven, we don’t have to do this. We can put this all behind us.” 

“No.” 

“Raven. I’m not going to kill you.” 

Raven held out her hand and her lightsaber moved from out of the ground near my foot and back in her hand. She gripped it tight and squatted down, into attack position. “Too bad. Because I’m going to kill you.” She began running at me, lightsaber swinging above her head. 

Okay. So we’re doing this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: veronica vs. raven, place your bets now


	124. Veronica POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alyssa messaged me back. Said she was sorry for the things she said. She was sorry for how she acted. She said she forgives me for being so… upset the last few months. Said that she misses me and never wants bad energy between us. She asked if wecould still be friends. Idk

Raven swung her lightsaber overhead and I dodged it by jumping backwards. This technique was similar to the train battle, I remember. If I can just hop back, that’s all that matters. She swung ahead and I dodged back. Simple enough. But then she took out another red lightsaber from out of nowhere and lit it and swung it down at my other side and nicked my side. What the fuck?? Where did she get that?? 

Instinctively, I lit my hands up with green energy and held it out in front of me. There was a small explosion as it hit Raven’s stomach, causing her to bounce back and fall to the ground. She stumbled back, clasping her stomach, her midriff exposed through her damaged clothing. She began running forward, her two arms straight behind her, lightsabers pointed to the back. I waved my hands in front of me, green energy glowing out of them as I caused little controlled explosions to pop out of the ground to the left and right of Raven, hoping to just disorient her and cause her to fall over. She was able to stumble a bit by the third one, and so I took advantage of the moment where she was caught off guard I held out my hand and unleashed some fire magic. But Raven was able to hold out her lightsabers in front of her in a cross formation and rush towards me, deflecting the fire. Once she was close, she swung her lightsabers in a cross formation, burning my stomach. 

No sense using magic or abilities now. I punched her in the face and sent her down to the ground. Fuck this. I’m so done. 

But then Raven got up and punched me in the stomach where my burn was and I tumbled over, onto my ass. This bitch. Without thinking, I extended my hand and let out a green energy blast that exploded Raven away from me and into the rubble of one of the destroyed buildings. I got back to my feet. “Come on, Raven. We can stop this now.” 

She just stood up, wiped some of the ash off of herself. Breathing in heavily, she extended her hand and shot off… force lightning? Oh fuck, since when was she able to do that?? Uhhh lets see if I still remember how to do this. I held my hand out and let lightning come out of my finger tips. The lightning met in the middle and collided. 

The lightning illuminated the town in a dark blue glow. I could feel the heat emanating off of it, warming my skin. I could just barely see Raven on the other side. It was sort of hard to tell who was winning the struggle, considering the lightning was the same color and seemed to combine in the middle. But then after a while, I could feel my own lightning get overpowered. I focused as hard as I could but it was no use. I was too out of practice with the force. Eventually my lightning gave out and a huge swarm of it came down, electrocuting my whole body. 

I yelled in pain as I felt the sharp, agonizing burning all over my body. It was like my skin was being set alight. It really really really fucking hurt. I needed to get out of this however I could but I knew I couldn’t get a good aim at Raven. But… I could do this. 

My hands down to my side, I focused as much as I could on setting a green energy ball in my palm and letting it fall. I felt the explosion under me and it hurt like a bitch and sent me flying throughout the air, landing on top of the stone rubble. I stood up. That hurt… a lot. But it also meant I had caught Raven off guard. By the time she was trying to refocus her force lightning on me again, I could try and run off as best as I could. My leg was slightly limping but gradually healing with every step I took. The lightning trailed behind me but I couldn’t look at it. If I were to stop moving at all or even slow a bit down, I would most definitely be stuck in lightning hell again. 

I saw a small chest high wall and knew that I just needed to run to that for cover. I did a little hop to get me some air time and then a little roll and then I was behind the wall. The lightning struck up against it. I hoped that it was sturdy enough to provide enough cover. This gave me enough time to focus and create a small green ball of energy in my hand. I couldn’t risk poking my head up to see where she was so I was just gonna go “fuck it” and blind throw it. 

I could hear a small explosion and feel the ground shatter and shake. My ears rang for a bit and once sound came back I realized that I could no longer hear the sound of lightning. I peaked my head up a little bit, a bit nervous, only to breathe a sigh of relief when I saw Raven, collapsed on the ground. Okay, good. She was subdued. 

Wait. Spoke too soon. She started getting up. I held up my hands defensively, green glowing energy surrounding it. “Raven. Don’t fucking try it.” 

But rather than approach me, she just stood up and, locking her intense blood red eyes with mine, raised her hand. That was… odd. Wait. She was using the force. Was she trying to force choke me or something? I didn’t feel force choked, so that couldn’t be it. Unless she was weak as hell. 

And then I noticed the partially destroyed two-story building next to her start to shake. There was a loud boom and bang as the pipes under it broke and the building rose gradually in the air. I tried to shoot at it with my green energies but they just hit the windows and passed through or hit the walls and didn’t do much. Before too long, the building began rapidly floating in the air towards me. This bitch wasn’t actually going to throw a building on me, was she? 

And then the building landed on top of me. 

I’m not quite sure how to describe the sensation of a whole ass building landing on top of you except that it hurt. Really really fucking badly. I laid there, under the hard concrete foundation of the building, feeling it crush all of my bones and organs and I couldn’t help but scream. I used what effort I could put forth through the pain to surround my body with a pure green field and then released it and let the structure above me demolish and cave in. As my bones and body began to gradually heal myself, I began to push up against the chunks of rock on top of me, making my way out of the rubble. Finally I could see the skylight again but as I lifted the final rock to guarantee my freedom, Raven grabbed my wrist and pulled me up, slamming me through a wall. It took me a moment to see where we were. This area was familiar. She had thrown me inside Phillip’s theater and I had landed on the scaffolding on the stage. She ran up and into the hole in the wall and approached me, both of her lightsabers out. My bones had finally healed enough. I stood up, wiped some of the blood off of my face and assumed stance. 

She swung the lightsaber towards me but thankfully I gained enough composure to dodge it. There was a magic technique I learned in Wild Cliff Express that I hadn’t got to use yet. While she was in mid swing, I used magic to form an ice knife and aimed it at her. She clearly hadn’t expected it because she seemed quite surprised when it hit the side of her face and left a large gash on her right cheek before it shattered and the ice residue hit her from behind too. In the chaos, she dropped the lightsaber in her right hand. As it fell below us, I used a green explosion to blow it up. The saber made a little spark of light and then shattered into a few pieces. 

Raven gasped. “You bitch! I stole that from a corpse fair and square!” Then she reached into her belt and pulled out another one. As she lit it, a blue blade extended. “Good thing I brought a spare.” 

How many lightsabers does this girl have? Goddamn.

She ran towards me, swinging her red and blue sabers and swiped above me. I ducked and punched her in the stomach. The last thing I wanted was to get cut again so I needed to make sure I kept distance as much as I could. Then again, too much distance and I’d get another building on me so, y’know… real lose lose. 

As she kept swinging and I kept dodging, it became clear to me that this was going to be a circle. I would have to subdue her in some way. An idea occurred to me. Stretching out my hand, I threw out another ice knife, sending it flying past Raven’s head. 

“Hah, you missed, dipshit!” She smiled. 

I smiled. “I wasn’t aiming for you, dipship.” 

The ice collided with the side of the scaffolding, where it hit and froze the rod holding the back corner up. Then once the knife shattered again, the scaffolding began to fall down under us. I, knowing what was coming, braced for impact. Raven wasn’t so lucky and she was thrown downwards, landing with a sharp thud on the stage, her two lightsabers falling and rolling away from her. . 

I jumped on top of Raven, my foot on her stomach and my hand to her neck, highlighted by green energy. She was bleeding heavily now, her clothes mostly ruined from the multiple explosions she had undergone. She looked out of it. She didn’t have much longer. I leaned my face close to hers. “This fight is over, Raven. Give it up.” 

Her eyes fluttered as she tried to gain focus. Her breath was heavy and quick but getting slower and slower. Was this it? Was she giving up? She leaned her face close to mine and… extended her tongue, licking blood off of my cheek. Then her eyes illuminated blue and suddenly she was phasing through me. I turned around to see where she went only to see her standing up, her two lightsabers back in her hand, reignited. She licked her tongue around her face and sipped in the blood and as she did, the cut on her face healed. “Ah, that’s better. I didn’t want to give into… your style of methods, but I have to do what has to be done.” 

Motherfucker. Of course she had a reality emerald. Of course she did. Great. Just fucking great. She really wasn’t going to stop this. She’s not going to stop until I kill her. And I can’t let that happen. But fuck. Fuck.

Wait. 

No. 

I’m wrong. 

There’s one way to win this. 

I knew what I had to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what’s she got up her sleeve? Read the next chapter to find out


	125. Raven POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i forgive alyssa. I miss my best friend.

I gripped my lightsabers as I looked at her. Her short brown hair, her clothes covered with debris and dirt and blood, and her makeup… still somehow looking perfect?? This bitch. This clone ass bitch, thinking she was better than me. I had to laugh. Granted I couldn’t do that too much, both because of the intensity of the battle and also just that feeling you get when your stomach was exploded by explosives. 

She stood up and I expected her to be ready to fight and take her stance but instead she just waved her hands above her head. The fuck does this bitch think she’s doing??? 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing??” I yelled. 

“I’m not going to fight you, Raven,” Clone Raven said, that smug ass look on her face that I made for her. She always looked way too smug. Ughhhh. 

“Like hell you aren’t going to fight me. I’m going to kill you, here and no-” 

“Yeah, yeah I know. Prophecy and all that junk. Do what you want. But I’m not gonna fight back.” 

I had to take a moment to compose myself. “Is this a fucking joke??” 

“Unlike most things with you, Raven, it’s not a joke. I’m serious. I’m not going to fight you.” 

“That’s…” I had to take a moment to think about what to say. This was a trick. It had to be. Clone Raven was ruthless, she was trying to get on my good side. She was a coldblooded killer. She would never just turn over a fight. Nuh-uh. No way. I needed to get the advantage on her and fast, before she could do whatever it was she was planning. I saw a giant replica of a train on the theater ground behind her. Trying not to make it obvious that I was moving my hand, I moved my hand, letting the train lift up into the air and then I smacked her behind the head with it, sending her crushing into the ground. 

I did this a few more times, smacking her with the giant prop train. It didn’t seem like a real train, because it seemed way lighter and didn’t make a metal clang sound when it hid her skull. Eventually after enough hits, the train broke apart entirely, leaving just train debris on the floor. 

Clone Raven stumbled, holding her head and forcing herself to her knees. The audacity of this bitch. Who told her she was allowed to stand?? UGH I placed my blue lightsaber back in its holster, held out my hand and used the force to bring her to me. Soon her throat was in my grip and she was in front of me, her arms limp by her side, her face bloodied and her eyes swollen. 

I smiled and looked at her face. I wanted to see that look of fear. Nothing would satisfy me more. But I didn’t see that. Instead I just saw… contentment? Like she didn’t seem concerned or worried or afraid or angry. What the fuck was her problem?? I held her up and threw her off stage and into the audience. 

She landed into one of the rows of chairs in the middle. I picked up a chair bottom and hit her on the side of the head. She spat out blood and then turned her head back at me. 

“Come on!” I yelled. “Fight back!” 

“No.” She smiled once more. 

THIS FUCKING BITCH 

Using the force I pushed her through the back wall of the theater. She landed against a collapsed fountain, her body sitting upright. I force jumped super high and landed in front of her. Before she could even think about moving I took out my red lightsaber and stuck it right in between her shoulder and her heart. The blade met with the rocks on the other side, keeping her stuck and impaled there. 

“This is it, Clone Raven,” I said, badassly as I stood over her. “This is where you die. Any last words?” 

She chuckled and let her head hang low. “None that I can think of.” 

That really pissed me off. I could finish this right now but I didn’t want to. Just… seeing her like this, this smug sense of superiority she had. The face might’ve been different but the expression was the same one she carried when she killed my dad. When she killed my girlfriend. When she stabbed me in the stomach. 

I extended my hand behind me and landed it across her face in a punch. And then I used my other hand and I punched her again. And then I punched her once more with my left hand. And then my right. And then my left hand. And then my right. And then my left hand. And then my right. 

And I just kept punching and punching and punching and punching and punching and punching. 

I noticed she was gradually healing a bit after every hit. No worries. That just meant I would hit her faster and faster and faster and faster, more and more and more and more. The more I hit, the more I could see her face swell up, blood pore down, even some teeth fall out. Every hit was more satisfying than the last. 

I made one swing with my right fist, as hard as I could and I guess it must’ve been too hard because as I did, my robot hand broke off and flew through the air, landing on the ground somewhere. I shrieked in pain and held the stump on my wrist. Fuck fuck fuck this hurt. 

It was hard to tell, but Clone Raven’s swollen eyes were locked onto my stump. “Oh….. I did that, didn’t I?” she mumbled, her voice low, her speech slightly stirred. She raised up her hands as much as she could, given she was still impaled on my lightsaber, and she grabbed my stump. I instinctively wanted to pull away but her grip was tightened hard. “Shh. Don’t go. I… haven’t tried this on anyone else. But it works for me, right? So maybe…. Maybe it’ll work here?” 

Red energy began to glow through her fingers and into my palm. As it passed through, I could see a bit of bone extend from the stump and branch out and soon muscle and flesh covered and soon skin and as the red energy disappeared, I was left with a hand, same as it was before (except without the black nail polish). It was as if it had never been cut off. 

She released her grip and let her arms fall limp next to her. I noticed her wounds weren’t healing at the same rate they were before. “There. That should fix it. I’m…. really sorry about that.” 

“I…” I tried to think of what to say, but I couldn’t, so instead I just let my right hand punch her square in the jaw. I looked down to see the blood on my newly recovered skin. I moved my fingers, enjoying the sensation. I didn’t know just how much I missed this. I began to raise my left hand for another punch when Clone Raven interrupted me. 

“Wait! Wait…” she said, her voice even more quiet, even more of a slur. “Is it… too late for those final words?” 

I was tempted to say yes and just start hitting her again but I rolled my eyes. “What the fuck is it?” 

She coughed up a bit, blood coming out of her mouth. “I just… wanted to know, Raven…. Did you... ever let yourself cry? After everything that happened... Did you allow yourself to cry?” 

I jumped back. “What the fuck are you talking about!?” 

“It’s okay, y’know. To cry. You lost a lot. It’s okay… if’...” She coughed again. “If that’s what you need to do.” 

What the fuck?? I can’t let myself do that. No. No way. Sith Lords don’t cry. Sith Lords don’t cry. I swang my fist down one more time, giving her another punch right on the side of her right eye. 

She breathed in and out in fractured, disoriented breaths. She spat out some teeth onto the ground. “I never told you… that I’m sorry, did I? For everything. I fucked up. And I hurt you. And I hurt everyone else. And I’m sorry I did that. And I wish I could go back and undo it. But I can’t. I’m so so sorry.” 

She looked up at me with those damn blue eyes. They were watering. Was that because of the pain or…. Was she actually crying? I hate her. I hate her so much. Sorry? After all this?? She’s sorry??? This couldn’t go on any longer. I went to raise my arm for one last final swing…

… but as I did, I instead felt my legs fall to the ground. Something cold was streaming down my face. Tears. It had been so long. I leaned forward, next to Clone Raven, and onto the fountain, my head next to hers. “.... The last thing my dad said…. was my sister and I should take care of each other… and I didn’t…” 

I moved my eyes to the left. Clone Raven was still there, looking down, her eyelids partially closed, her mouth open. The blood on her face was getting mixed up in the tears. She looked a mess. She muttered something, something like “I’m sorry” but I couldn’t hear quite well, and then… she stopped moving at all. 

I leaned back, sitting a bit more upright. I placed two fingers on Clone Raven’s neck. There was no pulse. I stood up and retracted the lightsaber blade from her chest. As I did, her body fell over, limp on the ground. I towered above her corpse, knowing that I had finally done it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave reviews


	126. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i feel pretty good about my convo with alyssa. I’m still a bit nervous, but like… i think that’s natural

There wasn’t much I could do but continue to look down at the bloody and beaten body below me. It had been a few minutes. She hadn’t moved yet. I wasn’t sure what this meant. 

I guess she was dead. 

Huh. 

Well. That’s done, thank fucking god. 

I began to walk away (well, more like limp - the blood i took from her was good enough for some light healing but still, like…. ow) but after a few steps i turned around quickly. I expected her to give up this ruse, to be back on her feet again and moving closer towards me. But uh. Nope. She was still there, on the ground, motionless, right where I left her. I sighed and faced forward again and kept walking a few more steps but I just couldn’t help the nagging feeling. I turned around once more. Still in the same place. Okay. Well, good. If she’s dead, then she’ll rot here in the rubble. Fitting enough end. 

I kept walking forward. This was good. She would be here dead, alone. No one would even know. God it was so perfect. So fitting. So….

I turned back around again. I sighed. Why was this… what was I… ugh, whatever. 

I walked back and felt her neck again, making sure there was no pulse. Once I confirmed there wasn’t, I lifted her up and flung her body over my shoulder. Then I opened a blue portal and walked through it, ending up in the previous science lab we were in. Mira was there, confused and crying, on the floor next to a blue stuffed animal. She looked up at me and we locked eyes for a moment before I threw her body on the floor. 

“Here,” I said. “Here’s your friend.” 

Before I could even hear what she had to say, I opened up another blue portal and stepped through it. Last thing I wanted was to be there for much longer and have to talk to my ex best friend and have her cry because she lost her…. Whatever she was to her. 

When she looked at me… it felt really bad. 

But whatever. I stepped through the portal and ended up in a familiar apartment. This was the lodging I had been spending my last year or so in. I would spend the days trying to figure out where she was and then at night I would relocate back here for some nice R&R because fuck sleeping in other weird universes, who knows what’ll happen. 

It was a simple little place. One bedroom, kitchen and living room and bathroom and all that. I don’t even know what else this whole universe had to offer but at the very least this one individual room was nice. 

And speaking of nice, the first thing I did when I got there was crash down on the couch because fuck damn shit OW did my body hurt. Turns out having a dramatic fight to the death where you get exploded a lot is really fucking painful. 

I just kinda laid there for a bit and let myself catch my breath. I unzipped my thigh high boots and threw them across the room. Phew. Much better. That was some of the most intense fighting I’ve done since Finals. Maybe even more than Finals. Still, it was done and over. Finally after resting for a few, I managed to get up on my feet and stumble over to the fridge where there was a prepackaged container of blood. I popped off the cap and chugged it down. This should get me feeling better in no time. 

A thought entered my head. Could she use blood to revive herself? The way I did before? Hm. Nah. Pretty sure when I did that whole… train identity thing…. That I made it so she was human and not a vampire anymore. Worked better for the whole ruse, y’know? 

So at least I didn’t have to worry about that. I finished the bottle of blood and threw it into the sink so I could refill it later, once I found a willing subject. I looked at my hands - both of them, for the first time in a while. They were covered in dried blood and ash and dirt. My whole body was probably like that. Ew. Gross. 

Well there was only one way to fix that. A fucking nice, therapeutic shower. Fuck yeah. I’ve earned this. I made my way over to the bathroom and unlaced my corset and took off my cloak and all the other cool black stuff I was wearing and turned on the faucet letting it drop down nice cold water. I stepped inside and I could feel my skin slightly sizzle a bit. It must’ve still been pretty warm from all teh goddamn explosions I was caught up in. I looked down to see a burn on my stomach from them, slowly trying to make itself better. 

I let the conditioner sit in my perfect long blue hair for a few minutes. She had self healing, right? So she could heal back up and get better. THen again she used it on me instead. For some reason. I ran my hand through my hair. 

What the fuck was she talking about I was tricked? I wasn’t tricked. I was shown a prophecy and I fulfilled the prophecy. Whatever Elrich situation she was talking about is irrelevant because I did it. I saved the universe. 

I did. I did. I did. I did. 

Ugh. 

I finished washing my hair and stepped out of the shower and wrapped a black and red towel around myself and did that cool hair swish thing you can do where you swish your hair in the towel and seriously how do you do that i have no idea. 

After I was sufficiently dried off, I changed into my new nightclothes I had stolen from an alt universe Taylor Taylorson. It was just a simple large black t-shirt that said “Baddest Bitch in the Cliff” on it and a pair of shorts that said “that’s me” on the back. I laid in bed. It usually took me a while to get to sleep because I haven’t slept well in years but it was good because it meant I could spend time planning what I wanted to do tomorrow. 

Which was

Um

Huh

What the fuck did I want to do tomorrow? 

I

Had no fucking idea. 

Like. Everything so far has been about… her… and so, like… she’s out of the picture, probably… i guess if she does heal herself i can go fight her again i guess 

But 

I don’t know. 

Huh. 

I could try to track down the rest of The Black Parade. That could be a good project yeah. And were there any other loose ends that needed tying up? Now that the story is over, it seems like now is a good time to finish off anything that needs finishing. Yeah. That seems like a good idea. Yeah. 

Finally my mind let me doze off to sleep and it was… strange. This was the first night in a long time that I didn’t see the prophecy. I still had that weird ripple followed by the sounds of Severepth’s screams, that didn’t go away sadly but whatever at this point i was just sorta drowning it out but then 

_ Her  _ face. 

Bloodied. 

Beaten. 

Severepth’s screams. 

And then her face. 

Bloodied. 

Beaten. 

Severepth’s scream

And then her face. 

Bloodied. 

Beaten.

I jolted up and screamed. 

What the fuck was that about??? What the fuck?? My heart was beating like a thousand miles and minute and my breath was tense and I couldn’t move and my body locked up and god all i wanted to do is scream and get it out what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck 

Okay okay. Calm the fuck down Raven. It’s meaningless. You just had a bad dream. It’s been an intense day. You just need to relax and calm yourself down. Yeah. That’s it. Just…. Just do something to take your mind off things. 

I looked down at my hands. Maybe that’s why I was freaking out. My new hand didn’t have nail polish on it yet. Once balance was restored there maybe I could be at peace. Or maybe it would just take my mind off things idk i didn’t go to therapy school 

I went over to the couch and took out one of my bottles from my collection of black nail polish across all the unvierses. It was sorta hard to do the brush strokes, with my hands constantly shaking and all. I ended up fucking up a lot more than normal, which is weird because i was infamous in wild cliff for my amazing nail skills but now I was getting nail polish on my skin and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking and GOD DAMN IT i threw the nail polish against the wall and watched it shatter and make a black stain and that just reminded me of the blood splat on the floor of the theater when I hit her with the train and god damn it get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head 

Okay. Breathe, Raven. Fucking breathe. 

Okay so it’s pretty clear that you’re not going to sleep tonight. Okay that’s fine. I can get started on tomorrow. I can do something. Any errand. Anything. There’s gotta be something I can do. 

I started thinking on the prophecy. The fa i mean totally real one and tried to think of if there was anything i was missing from it. The staff? Check. Her in a prison cell? Check, apparently according to her. Her dying in Isathill? Check check. 

Wait.

There was one more thing. 

I was going to need to get ready. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave reviews if sometimes you just don’t feel okay and you don’t know why


	127. a loose end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m gonna try to see if i can type up some of mom’s old writing and stuff from her journals. It would be cool to make sure none of her stories ever get lost

I could hear my high heels clacking against the shitty wooden floorboards of this jail cell. She had to be in here, right? Like it made the most sense ? I could definitely feel her force presence here, though it was weak as hell. I already checked every other prison cell I could find in this goddamn stupid universe. 

There was a belt of weapons hanging up on a hook on the wall. That was neat. I turned my head around. There was a dog with a key in its mouth and idk if that meant anything except that I should pet the dog so I went to pet the dog with my right hand and he wagged his tail very happily. 

“Aye,” i heard a voice say from across the room. “I see ye hand is back.” 

I turned around to see a familiar face I hadn’t seen in a year or two. Her black hair was scraggly and unkept. Her pale white skin was even paler than normal. She was covered in claw marks, as if she was attacked by some form of cat, and had a pretty nastly bullet wound on the side of her body. 

“Pirate Fidan!” I yelled. “Oh thank god I found you. Sorry it took me so long.” 

“Aye, what do ye mean? I be in this cell for nay more than four hours.” 

Four hours? That… didn’t seem right. But I didn’t know enough to really dispute it. “Oh. Um, are you okay? You look really injured.” 

“Aye. Was tryin’ to take out a SWIM. Got a bit fucked up, as they say.” 

“Oh… you were fighting a SWIM?” Something about that seemed… off to me. Like… I couldn’t help but feel like it was a bit… sad. 

“Aye. Was. Then old Captain Underbow trapped me in this ere cell. Grimey bastard.” She winced as she got to her feet. “Wanna get me out of this jail cell?” 

“Um, yeah! Yeah of course!” I took out my blue lightsaber and slashed open the bars. Then I reached into my cloak pocket and pulled out a bottle. “I figured you might be a bit injured so I went ahead and brought you some blood. To heal! Y’know.” 

She walked unevenly over to me. She placed her hook on my shoulder and with the other hand grabbed the bottle and drank it. “Thank ye. You seem different. What have ye been up to?” 

“Oh not much! Went to school, did some Finals, umm… took out a universe, I think…. Fought… y’know… whatsername.” 

“Busy gal. I see ye got ye hand back.” 

“Yeah! Um, that was, um… that was… her.” 

“Ah.” She took another drink from the bottle. “Well then. It’s been enough time, it seems. I’ll get healed up and then we can go and kill ye SWIMs. How does that sound?” 

“Um…” I stammered. I wasn’t quite sure how to say this but it felt… off. “About that… are you sure that’s really what we still want to do?” 

“Aye. Course it is. They need to pay for what they did.” 

“Yeah, but like… they did do the thing and that’s bad but like…. I don’t know, do you really think killing them will help you?” 

“Aye.” 

I sighed. “I mean, I get it but… I… look, I was kinda thinking maybe after this we can… settle down? Focus on other things? Do some good?” 

“I  _ am  _ doing good,” she snarled, taking another sip of blood, her claw marks slowly and slowly closing up. 

“Yeah but I mean like… idk… maybe something… idk… look, I don’t know if you want it, but…” I handed a small rectangular device out of my pocket and handed it to her. “Before I got here, I visited the Cell Phone Universe and got you this. It’s an iPhone X. I would’ve gotten you the 11 but they’re sold out. I just thought you should have it, y’know, in case we get separated again and we need to call each other for help or if you just wanna chat with me or play 8 Ball or whatever.” 

Pirate Fidan looked at the phone with squinted eyes before putting it in her pants pockets. “Raven. Ye be talkin as if ye ain’t coming with me to kill SWIM.” 

“I…” Why was saying this so hard? “I just don’t know if I’m up to killing SWIM. Not now. Not quite yet.” 

She took one more drink from her blood carton and then handed me the empty container. “Aye. I see. So be it then.” And then she pushed me over and I fell onto my ass. Taking her belt of weapons that was hanging off of the wall, she wrapped them around herself and then quickly opened a black portal, stepping through it. 

Oh fuck. 

Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re excited to see pirate fidan go kill SWIM


	128. everyone’s hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m actually feeling really happy with myself nowadays

Oh fuck!! 

Think, Mira. Think.

Okay. 

So. 

Let’s just recap this in our heads 

We were here, talking to Kharla, when Raven appeared out of a blue portal, stabbed her, and then took Veronica away

Okay. 

Okay. 

Oh my god Kharla!! 

I went over to her body to see it glowing a bright bright blue entirely all over and then it disappeared and all that was left was a glowing blue stuffed whale. 

Huh… was this… a reality plushie? 

That’s… weird. 

Speaking of weird, another portal opened up. I turned my head, looking up to see Raven towering over me. She threw down Veronica’s body next to me. We locked eyes, her look one of disdain and judgment. “Here. Here’s your friend,” she snarled. Before I could respond, she opened up another portal and went through. 

I never knew I could feel such disdain for someone. 

I went over to Veronica’s body. It was…. Okay so how do I put this nicely? Bad. Really really bad. She was just completely very not good. And worst of all, she wasn’t moving. No breath. No pulse. No eyelid flickers. Anything. 

No no no. No no no no no no. 

I quickly grabbed the bag of rings and fumbled through it, pulling one out and throwing it into the air. I could see the planning room in Patter on the other side. There was still time. We could still save her. We just had to get her out of here. Using what little of my pathetic +1 bard strength to lift Veronica up over my shoulders and then also grabbed the soft blue whale plushie and hopped through the ring, where we crash landed on the planning table. 

“What the fuck??” Delnys yelled. Then she squinted her eyes and looked at Veronica. She rolled her eyes. “Fucking hell, another one? Did Kharla beat you up? What the fuck happened?” 

“No time to explain!” I yelled. “I need to get her in the medical wing, now! Does anyone know where that is?” 

Delnys sighed. “Why would I know? This isn’t even my- Ugh. Look, go ask Serinepth. She’s the one who helped the others find it.” 

“Where’s Serinepth??” I screamed. 

Artis coughed one of those fake coughs just to get my attention and to tell us ‘oh hey, artis is here and in this scene, cool, glad he’s okay.’ Anyway he said, “Um. I believe she went to her private office.” 

“I don’t know anything of this castle!!” I yelled. “I just got here, like, yesterday!” I sighed. I didn’t have time to deal with this. I had Veronica’s dead body on my shoulder, I needed to do something. So I used what little movement speed I had to make my way through the castle, hoping to find Serinepth even if it meant knocking on every door. 

Thankfully, finally, I could hear her voice softly from a room down the hall. 

“I don’t know... “ Serinepth said. 

“Oh come on!” said another voice. It was… familiar. A voice I might’ve heard a while ago. But I couldn’t quite place it. “Wouldn’t you want to undo it? All those years lost?” 

“Yes, but…” 

“But what, sweet girl?” 

“The price is… a lot…” 

“Youth is worth a lot.” 

“I don’t know, I ju-” I got closer and peaked over the corner but as I did, Serinepth was alone in the room. “Oh! Mira! I didn’t realize you were here!” 

“Heyyy. Who were you, um… talking to?” 

“Oh, uh…” She looked around in front of her, where there was just an empty space and a desk. “Nobody. Is that Veronica’s dead body over your shoulder?” 

“Oh! Right! I need to find the medical bay!!” 

“Oh my god, um, yeah!” Serinepth sprung up to her feet and began to walk down the halls. “We can take you right away. Thankfully the bed is cleared up since we had to move Integrity to the specialized dark room.” 

“INTEGRITY!?” I yelled. “Is she okay? What happened??” 

“It’s… complicated.” She sighed. “She should be okay. It’s been a few days now so I think Mara said she’ll be calming down.” 

“A few days??” I huffed. “God, time really is fucked, huh?” 

“You’re telling me,” Serinepth said as she opened the door to the pure white room. 

I placed the stuff animal down and then quickly sat Veronica on the medical bed and let her lay there. She still wasn’t breathing. Fuck. This wasn’t good. 

“Will she be okay here??” I turned to Serinepth. 

“Um, well.” She was sweating a bit. “I don’t know. I can ask for a nurse but… she’s not breathing, right?” 

“Yeah but I mean… it's Veronica! She’ll heal, right?” I looked at her. She was silent. “Right?” 

Serinepth sighed. “I’m going to go get the medic, okay?” She walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Veronica. I huffed. Geez. I found a blanket from one of the cabinets and threw it over her. Then I looked around. I picked up the stuffed animal. If this really was a reality thing then we needed to be sure it was protected. I opened up my backpack and went to put it in there but I stopped. There was another plush already in there. I pulled it out. It was that dragon plush Veronica had picked up back in Lightmere. 

I took it and placed it by her side. She needed it more than I did right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: with every review you leave, Veronica gets one step closer to being better! So leave lots of reviews!


	129. take a break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: it’s almost time for school to start back up again. And i wanna make sure i do it right. I wanna go to school as Mason

I woke up to the feeling of something furry in my lap. “Well well well. Mira. Fancy seeing you here.” 

I rubbed my eyes. Ugh. This fuckin cat again. I don’t know why Veronica kept him around tbh. Like I guess cats were okay but like ??? 

“What do you want, Macavity?” 

“I was bored. Not much to do here. Your friend has been gone for days and then been in bed for another. Really kills the vibe. Tried to talk to the other you but she doesn’t like me much these days.” 

“Can’t imagine why.” 

“Well whatever!” Macavity jumped on the bed and sniffed Veronica. “Is she okay? She smells dead.” 

“She’s fine!” I yelled. 

“Did the medic say she was fine?” 

“I mean, the medic confirmed her dead, but like… dead is super relative, right?” 

Macavity shrugged and laid down next to Veronica. “Whatever. How long do you plan on staying in this room?” 

“Until she wakes up.” 

“That could be a while.” 

“I have time.” 

“What even did her in like this? She’s very fucked up.” 

I huffed. “Raven.” 

“Raven?” He put a paw up to his chin. “Oh yeah! That’s the girl this bitch was cloned from right?” 

“Yeah…” 

“Mm. Damn. That sucks.” Macavity snuggled up against Veronica again and closed both his eyes. However after a moment, he opened one of them again, something I didn’t even know cats could do. “Fake Mira. I want to sleep. Play me something.” 

“First off, I am a real Mira. Secondly, no. Why should I?” 

“Because I want it.” He wiggled his tail. 

“No.” 

He pointed at Veronica. “She might like it.” 

“I said no.” 

He rolled his eyes and then closed them again. This dumb cat. I didn’t remember Mr. Wiggles being this rude. Then again Wiggles couldn’t talk back. Gosh, imagine a WIggles who could talk. Chaotic. 

I miss Crowigami. 

Ah well. Time to just rest. 

Though…

I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. As much as I was worried about Veronica, this was… a bit dull. And… I am a bard. Maybe music could help in this scenario. Yeah. I mean, it’s helped before, right? 

I got my lyre out from my bag and made sure it was tuned and plucked some of the strings. Okay. It sounded good. But… what to play... 

I took a deep breath and began to strum and sing. 

_ Today is gonna be the day _

_ That they're gonna throw it back to you _

_ By now you should've somehow _

_ Realized what you gotta do _

_ I don't believe that anybody _

_ Feels the way I do, about you now _

I paused. I thought about those words for a moment. And then I continued. 

_ Backbeat, the word was on the street _

_ That the fire in your heart is out _

_ I'm sure you've heard it all before _

_ But you never really had a doubt _

_ I don't believe that anybody _

_ Feels the way I do about you now _

Tears were streaming from my face now. 

_ And all the roads we have to walk are winding _

_ And all the lights that lead us there are blinding _

_ There are many things that I _

_ Would like to say to you but I don't know how _

_ Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me _

_ And after all, you're my wonderwall _

I went to go play the rest of the song but then I was interrupted by the sound of Macavity snoring loudly. Ugh, this cat, ruining the moment. Hecklers. 

But then I realized something: that wasn’t Macavity’s snoring. The cat was asleep, but… 

I sat my lyre down and walked over to the bed. Veronica… she was breathing, her chest moving up and down and up and down. She reached for the dragon plush animal and turned to her side. 

She was alive. 

Oh my gosh, she was alive. 

I wanted to scream in joy but I also didn’t want to wake her up. Or Macavity, for that matter. He had nestled up besides her and laid his head on her side. It was almost cute if you didn’t remember it was, like, Macavity. 

I fell back in my chair. This… was a relief. She was going to be okay. 

Okay okay okay. 

  
  
  


Now what? 

That’s

A good question. 

I had been in this room overnight. I was hungry. A little tired too. Veronica was gonna be okay, right? It would be fine if I left, right?. 

I walked out into the hallway, closing the door shut behind me. I’m sure I could find something to eat. Somewhere. In this giant castle. That i’ve rarely been to. It kinda reminded me of Wild Cliff to be honest? 

But whatever. I just kinda stumbled around until I could hopefully find someone to talk to or something that looked like a place of interest. 

I could hear some talking coming down the hall so I was like “well cool, might as well check that out because that seems like something worth checking out” and so I followed it and as I got closer and closer I could recognize one of the voices as Artis. 

“You know more about this stuff then I do, dear. Are you sure she’s going to be okay?” 

“The worst part should be over soon. It’s not… ideal. But Mara did it and now it’s up to us to make sure it all goes well.” I knew that voice too. It was Fidan’s! 

“And do you think this was a wise decision?” 

Fidan sighed. “I don’t know. It was better than leaving that poor girl dying.” 

“I’m just concerned about what this means for her going forward.” 

“It happened to me and I ended up fine.” She paused. “But that reminds me. Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“I’m fine. Really. I’m just happy you and Mara are back safe. That’s all that matters.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too.” 

I knocked nervously on the open door, looking down at the ground. “Um. Hi.” 

The two of them broke away from each other. Artis turned to me. He was able to stand now, which was good. “Ah. Mira, was it?” 

“Um. Yeah. Um. I was just… checking to see if you were okay.” 

“I’m doing fine. Thank you, Ms. Marchand.” 

“Uh. Okay! I just, like, wanted to make sure!” I paused. “And we’re cool, right?” 

“Pardon?” 

“Like, we’re cool right? Everything is okay between us?” 

“... Any reason why it wouldn’t be?” 

“... No? I just wanted to make sure, y’know.” 

My stomach growled. Fidan squinted her eyes. “You should get some food, Mira.” 

“Yeah I was trying to do that but this place is, y’know, really really big.” 

Fidan pointed out the door. “Second floor, down the hall, third or fourth door on the right.” 

“Oh. Okay… Thanks!” I made my way to the staircase and down the stairs and down the hall where I checked the third and fourth door and eventually on the fifth door I found the kitchen. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who thought to go there. 

Wasn’t the only Mira who thought to go there, that is. 

“Oh, um… hey!” I said. 

Train Mira turned around from the cupboard she was inspecting and squinted her eyes at me. “Hey.” 

“What, uh, what’cha doing?” 

“Trying out what foods can I eat now considering I’m, well, y’know.” She flicked her left arm and it rippled like water. 

“Oh… found any yet?” 

“No,” she groaned. “This sucks.” 

“Are you hungry?” 

“No. But I just want to eat.” 

“Ah. I’ve been there!” I said, awkwardly laughing. I hoped I was bonding with her in this moment. She just rolled her eyes. Suddenly another person entered the kitchen, someone slightly shorter than either of us. It was that small redhead girl that showed up at the top of the castle. Mara, I think? 

“Hey Mira!” Mara said, going up to me. “So when did you want to do this?” 

“Huh?” 

“What do you mean huh? You promised!” It was then that Mara turned around and looked at Train Mira and then looked back at me. “Oh! Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you! I just got both of you confused because… oh gosh, please don’t be mad!” 

“Hey hey it’s fine!” I said, smiling, hoping that my smile didn’t come off as nervous as I did. “It’s easy to confuse us. But I’m Mira and that’s Train Mira.” 

Mara raised her brow. “Why do you call her Train Mira?” 

“Uh, because she’s from, y’know… the universe with the train in it.” 

“So am I but I’m not called Train Mara.” 

“Yeah, well, that’s because we met you first and, well, there’s not any other person here named Mara to distinguish you from and, like, Train Mara sounds really close to Train Mira and it’s like… y’know, it’s complicated and-” 

“Whatever, Fake Mira,” Train Mira interrupted me. She pulled out a chair that was tucked into a small table and sat down. “Alright, alright, Mara. Sit down on the floor.” 

Mara smiled and did as told. Train Mira then took her hair and began the process of elaborately braiding it. It was… honestly impressive. “Are you sure you haven’t had this done before?” Train Mira asked. 

“Y-yeah? Is that… is that bad?” 

“Nah, it’s just surprising. But don’t worry! That’s why God placed me here.” Train Mira turned her eyes towards me, still somehow expertely braiding Mara’s hair like a goddamn pro. “Is Veronica okay?” 

“... do you really care?” 

“She used to be my roommate too so yes, I do care.” 

That was a good point. “Yeah. She’s breathing now.” 

Train Mira was silent for a few beats and then returned her attention to Mara’s hair. “Good.” 

My stomach growled again. Oh yeah, I had to remember what I was here for. Without disturbing those two, I tried to look through the cupboards in search of anything. All I could find, though, was a pack of Gorp. Oh well. It would do. I opened it up and tipped the back into the mouth. 

Suddenly there was a knock by the side of the kitchen door. I turned to look at it to see

“Hey squirt,” Integrity said, leaning onto the doorframe. She looked… different. Her eyes were a deep red, and her orange skin was… slightly washed out. And her teeth… were they always that sharp? 

“INTEGRITY!” Mara yelled, somehow getting her hair out of Train Mira’s grasp as she ran up and hugged the tiefling girl tightly. “You’re okay!” 

“Ehhh okay is… a stretch. I sure do feel better though. Big holy problem I had,” she laughed. Was… was that a pun? I wasn’t sure. 

Tears were flowing down Mara’s face, interrupting her speech. “I. hope. You. don’t. Mind. what. I did. And. that. It. was. Okay. i. Did. what. I could. And. i’m. Sorry. But. i. Hope. you. Don’t. Take. it. Personally. And-” 

“Heyyyy!” Integrity ruffled Mara’s hair. “It’s okay! It’s cool. This is better than dying. Though I did die? But y’know.” Integrity turned her attention to us, her arms still wrapped around Mara. “Holy shiz there’s two of you.” 

“Yeah,” Train Mira said. 

“Heyyyy!” I held my hand up. “I’m, uh, I’m your Mira. Are you… okay? What happened?” 

Integrity thought about it for a second. “I think I’m a vampire now?” 

….

  
  


“Oh.” I paused for another two beats. “Wait, what?” 

“Yeah I know! It’s wild as hell,” Integrity smiled. “How’s everyone else doing?” 

“That’s a good question. I’m not sure. I spent the last night in Veronica’s medical room.” 

“Oh is she okay?” Integrity asked but then she shook her head. “Ah that’s silly. She always ends up okay. She always comes back.” 

“Yeah…”

Integrity ruffled Mara’s hair one more. “Hey. Do you know where my friends are? I’d like to see them.” 

Mara sniffled once more and untightened the hug. “Mhm. Sure thing, sis.” 

Mara walked into the hallway, leading the way but still besides Integrity. Not sure what else to do, I grabbed my bag of gorp and followed behind them. I mean, I wanted to see my friends too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: un-rip Veronica!


	130. the glory days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: It feels good to hang out with Alyssa again. Like, despite it all, she’s still my best friend

“OKAY so you need to make sure that you don’t go into sunlight. Not even once! Mom told me that she accidentally let some sunlight hit her finger once and it burned for like a week so like be extra extra careful! And DON’T ingest any food that’s not blood. I once ate a potato chip accidentally and it tore my stomach up so bad and the last thing I want to do is have that happen to you, so like, just don’t do it. And-” 

Mara was into it, telling Integrity all she needed to know to be a vampire. I guess that was a thing she had to worry about now? I guess?? She’s a vampire?? That’s… 

Why does all the wild stuff happen while I’m not there?? 

Whatever. We were walking down the hall, following Mara’s lead. Finally, she opened the door to reveal the planning room, with a hastily taped together table in the center. Serinepth and Winsler were chilling in it, talking to each other. 

“Sup, nerds! I lived!” Integrity yelled as she barged in. 

“Integrity!” Serinepth went up and hugged her while Winsler stood on the wobbly table behind her, waiting for his turn to hug too. 

“ _ Wow yeah and Mira you’re there too, great to see you as well,”  _ I whispered under my breath. Mara turned to me and I was curious why and then I remembered vampires had super hearing. God, was she judging me right now? 

Integrity turned to Mara. “Sis, I hope you don’t mind if I get some alone time? I haven’t gotten to be with my friends in a while.” 

“Oh! Um.” Mara looked a little bit disappointed. “Yeah! Yeah I understand. I need to go tell mom and dad that you're okay anyway.” 

She walked out and closed the door behind her. Our eyes followed her as they left before Winsler’s turned to Integrity. “What was that sister stuff about? Integrity, did you adopt a small vampire child?” 

“No! She adopted me!” Integrity took her seat and placed her foot up on the table. “Whole… vampire ritual thing. It’s weird but kinda neat?” 

“Feet off the table!” Serinepth yelled. “We just fixed this! It could break at any moment!” 

“Fiiine.” Integrity put her feet down. 

“So it’s true?” Winsler adjusted his glasses. “You’re a vampire now?” 

“Yeah! It’s neat! Lotta rules though. LOTTA rules.” Integrity shrugged. “But eh. If Raven could deal with it, so can I, right?” 

Raven. Ugh, I didn’t want to think of her now. Next time I see her, I swear to god…

Winsler turned to me. “And what about you? How’s your girlfriend doing?” 

“Huh? Delnys? I haven’t talked to her yet today.” 

“I wasn’t asking about her.” Winsler smiled. 

Oh. Oh god. No it wasn’t. It was… I blushed. “She’s breathing.” 

“Good!” Serinepth exhaled in relief. “Good. That means she’s alive. That means we still have a chance.” 

“Oh, is that Elrich guy still being a prick?” Integrity said, placing her feet up on the table again. “I’ve been out for a few days. I figured you all would’ve killed him by now.” 

“Things got… complicated.” I sat down at the table next to Integrity. 

“And Veronica is out of commission for the time being?” Integrity asked. 

“Yes. It appears so,” Serinepth said. 

“Cool. Well, then if we aren’t doing anything, then… wanna just… chat?” 

“Oh, yes!” Serinepth got out the whiteboard marker. “We can start making strategies and see where we’re working.” 

“No. No, Sinderman. God, no.” Integrity shook her head. “I just died. Kinda. We’re about to do this shit. This might be… the last thing we ever do together. Can’t we just, like… enjoy this moment for a bit?” 

“Enjoy how?” Winsler asked as Mr. Wiggles sat on his lap. 

“I don’t know… have some fun? Get some drinks? Just… reminiscence? It feels like everything has been so crazy for so long, I just… want that.” 

I turned to her. “You can’t even drink anymore, can you?” 

She shrugged. “I’m adjustable.” 

Serinepth looked at the clock on the wall. “I suppose… we have the time.” She clapped her hands and a few servants came in. “Um, Roger, Linda, I need drinks for the two of them over there, a blood for my friend and-” 

“The usual for you, ma’am?” one of them, Roger, asked. 

Serinepth sighed. “Oh, uh, no. No I don’t plan on drinking. Just a tea sounds great.” 

The two of them left and returned in no time with a fruit cocktail for me, moonshine for Winsler, a tea for Serinepth and a bottle of blood for Integrity. 

“Whose blood is that?” I asked the waiter before they left. 

“Old stock we kept in the castle from the old days,” Roger smiled. “We saved it for when better days would come.” 

Integrity took the bottle and sniffed it curiously. Sne snarled for a second before taking a small sip. 

“Well?” I asked her. 

“It’s… actually pretty good? Damn, no wonders vampires love this.” She took another sip and I followed suit with my own drink. 

Pretty soon we were all chatting, laughing, thinking about the old times. 

“Oh!” Winsler said. “Remember when we were in the restricted section and we got stuck in that old book?” 

“Oh yeah!” Integrity giggled. “That’s when Delnys and Tol were stuck in there.” 

“I don’t remember this?” Serinepth said with a bit of worry on her face. 

“Oh don’t worry! That was before you got here!” Winsler said. 

“I remember that..” I said. “That’s when I met her for the first time.” 

“God, yeah, you were so love struck,” Winsler laughed. “But Serinepth, you remember the duels, right?” 

“When Mira knocked out Murundeen? How could I forget?” Serinepth finished up her tea and before she could even set her drink down, Roger was there replacing the drink cup for her. 

“Drank so much that night in celebration, I had a dream I met an Empress. That was weird.” I finished my cocktail. “But yeah, defeating Murundeen was so fulfilling. And then later I shot him in the face...” Ah well.” 

“Eh, yeah that was a weird time. Weird vibe in the later years of Wild Cliff,” Integrity finished her bottle of blood. “Things were really silly. It was like we were all just a little bit out of character.” 

“Really? I didn’t notice it.” Serinepth adjusted her hair. “But gosh, the duels. That’s how we got Artis as a mentor, yeah?” 

Integrity smiled, as if remembering a friend fondly. “Yeah! And he immediately was like, ‘oh we’re skipping the field trip to Lightmere so that we can check out the hatch.” 

“We went down that hatch so much.” I thought about it. “Did we ever figure out what it was for?” 

“I think just goop,” Serinepth shrugged. “And the Detention Room.” 

“Oh yeah!” Winsler smashed his jar of moonshine on the ground. “Did you ever get sentenced there? When you died? That was a thing, right?” 

“Nahhh.” Serinepth played with the plastic straw in her cup. “Oh! Remember when Lucia finally asked Gennal out?” 

“YESS!” I screamed. “They were the CUTEST couple.” 

“God, yeah, Second Year was wild.” Winsler said. “That’s when Kurt and I started dating and we finally got to level 8.” 

“I didn’t realize you two were dating?” Serinepth rested her chin in her hands.

“Oh yeah, we weren’t talking then…” Winsler said, his voice low. 

“Oh, right…” Integrity looked down. “That was dumb. I’m really sorry y’all.” 

“Hey! It’s fine!” I told her. 

“You mean it?” 

“Yeah! Like, I know you didn’t mean to kill Artis.” I turned to Winsler. “And I know you didn’t mean to fuck up the deal. It just… it happened. It was dumb and it was childish.” 

“And I’m… sorry for how I responded too,” Serinepth interjected. “It was immature and… we needed each other, more than ever.” 

“Agreed…” Winsler took his new glass of moonshine and was going to take a drink of it but then he stopped himself. Instead, he held it up in the middle of the table. “To SWIM?” 

We all looked at each other and smiled. We put our cups in the middle. “To SWIM!” And then we chugged it down. 

Integrity finished taking a sip of hers. “Oh my gosh, and I’m sorry for giving Raven that emerald, y’all. Seriously, we probably wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for that.” 

“It’s okay, Integrity!” Serinepth said. “We can all forgive each other for mistakes.” 

I turned to her. “Wait, Integrity. How did you even find the chaos emerald anyway?” 

Integrity’s pale orange face blushed a bit. “Well, I received an anonymous note telling me where it was and I never figured it out for sure but I kinda recognized the handwriting as S-” 

Before she could finish, a black portal opened up in the middle of the table and a tiny cannonball shot the jug out of Winsler’s hand, making it shatter. 

As she stepped through, the table collapsed under her. She reloaded her gun and looked at us. It was… eery to see her again (this version, at least). Pirate Fidan smiled devilishly and aimed her cannon pistol at my head. “Aye. So SWIM. Which of ye be wanton’ to die first?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oh shit oh fuck pirate Fidan is there


	131. a pirate’s fight never ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m not even sure what to do about school. Like who do i contact about changing my name? Is there even a person or do they even do that? What if they make fun of me?

Oh shit oh fuck

I went to reach over for my lyre to do magic as Winsler winsled for his bees to come forward and it was a challenge to see who would get to cast magic on her first but then Integrity came out and punched her and Pirate Fidan flew through the wall. 

“Integrity!” Serinepth yelled. “You damaged my wall!” 

“Sorry!” Integrity looked at her hand. “I’m not used to this whole fancy new vampire strength.” 

“Aye,” said the voice of Pirate Fidan as she got out and spat out some blood. “But I got the vampire strength too.” 

Pirate Fidan picked up her gun and dashed forward, kneeing Integrity in the stomach, which caused her to curl over. Pirate Fidan then went to shoot at Integrity’s head while she was distracted but then Winsler sent his bees over there to distract her. This seemed to work as Pirate Fidan stopped what she was doing and went to try and swat the bees away. While this was going on, Serinepth put her hands in a finger gun pose and shot out three scorching rays. 

Wait… No! 

“Pirate Fidan! Get down!” I said as I tackled Pirate Fidan to the ground as the blast aimed right past us. 

“Mira! What in tarnation?” Winsler yelled. 

“Just whose side are you on anyway??” Integrity mumbled as she clutched her stomach. 

“Guys! We can’t kill her here!” I screamed. “Remember? She’s not from this universe! If we kill her here, the whole universe will be destroyed!” 

“Is that so?” Pirate Fidan smiled, still under me. “I be wonderin’, then, what happen should I kill ye folks.” 

With that Pirate Fidan vanished in a puff of smoke and when I next saw her, she was behind me, grabbing my right arm. Using a surprisingly little amount of strength, she lifted me over my head and threw me through a bunch of walls. I kept going and going and going through several several rooms until finally I hit a refrigerator. 

Um. OW. 

“Oh hey,” Train Mira said, leaning back in her small chair. “Back already? You certainly do come into the kitchen a lot.” 

“Not the time, please!” I said, huffing. My right arm hurt really really bad, more than it had ever hurt before. “Mind helping us out here?” 

Train Mira shrugged. “Why would I?” 

“Because someone is trying to kill us!” 

“Yeah, and?” 

“That’s a very bad thing!” 

“Is it? I mean, it’s definitely bad that you’re fucking up my body.” 

I rolled my eyes. “It’s the assassin lady. From the train. Remember her?” 

She thought about it. “Oh yeah. She tried to kill Inspector Winsler that night, right? After one of my shows?” 

“Maybe? I wasn’t there for that.” 

“Uh-huh, well.” She smiled. “With my weak little slime body, gosh, I don’t even know what I can do, y’know?” 

“Oh piss off then!” I stood up. I stood up as best as I could and shook some of the rubble off of myself. Catching my breath and giving myself some inspiration, I huffed and made my way over to the medical wing. My stuff was there. I needed to make sure I got it. 

Veronica was still in bed, clutching the dragon plush, Macavity sleeping next to her. I leaned over to her. “Hey, um, Veronica? If you plan on waking up to help, now would be a good time to do it!” 

She just kept sleeping. 

Well. 

Okay. 

I grabbed my lyre and backpack and placed it around my back. Okay. I was ready to fight now. I ran up the stairs and back over to the planning room where I could hear the sounds of tuffles being tuffed. Oh geez. This was bad. 

I was going to enter the room when a bullet went through the door. Thankfully I was able to dodge out of the way but I couldn’t help but scream. There was a moment of silence and then the door opened slowly. Pirate Fidan stood there calmly, gun in hand. “Oh there ye be. I be wonderin’ where ye ran off to.” 

I went to go play some notes to maybe stun her or hold her in place but instead she kept shooting at me so I didn’t even get time to play. I had to just keep running down the hallway while she shot what seemed to be a seemingly infinite pile of cannons. Jesus fuck how many of these did she have?? 

Thankfully finally Integrity came out of the pure darkness with a rope and tripped Pirate Fidan, causing her to fall over. Serinepth stood over her, if anything just using her tall adult form to keep Pirate Fidan from being able to get up again. This seemed to be working until Pirate Fidan did a push up with threw Serinepth across the room and then slipped her foot out of the rope. “Aye, don’t ye be tryin’ to rope a pirate. Pirates be rope experts.” 

I wanted to try and finish playing the song of hold person but i guess Pirate Fidan knew what I was doing because she focused her attention on me and suddenly I was tackled and fell down through the floor and onto the table. 

Ow. Why do I keep crashing so many tables??? 

“Ms Marchand?” I heard a deep voice say. I managed to move my head and see that it was Artis. Fidan, the good one, was next to him. The two of them were holding hands and also both looking at me strangely. 

“No time to explain!” I yelled. “Your pirate wife wants to kill me!” 

“My… pirate wife?” Artis scrunched his eyes. 

Suddenly Pirate Fidan jumped down the hole and stood over my body, loading her gun up again. She smiled as she placed her finger over the trigger and began to fire. But before she could… 

“Fidan?” 

She froze at the sound. Her body locked up. She turned to the voice to see Artis. And for the first time, I saw Pirate Fidan lose her resolve. “It’s… it’s you.” 

“Fidan.” Artis said, somehow keeping his cool somehow. “What do you think you’re doing here?” 

“I…” Pirate FIdan stumbled. Her grip on the pistol relaxed. She almost dropped it. But then she turned her head. And saw the other Fidan, holding Artis’ hand. Her face turned back into a scowl. “Ye not him. He ain’t never coming back.” 

She went to fire the trigger but before she could a group of bees swarmed up and made her fly through the wall, into the outdoors of the castle. Winsler flew up on a cloud of bees and helped me up. “You okay there, buddy?” 

“Yeah, I’m… yeah…” I wasn’t okay but y’know sometimes you just gotta lie, right? 

“Really weird how she just, like… stopped like that, huh?” 

Serinepth and Integrity came up and stood by us. “Yo this sucks,” Integrity said. “Can’t we just, like, take her somewhere else and kill her?” 

“We do have the bag of rings…” Serinepth put her fingers on her chin. “We could do it….” 

Yeah that’s true. We could. We could just kill her and be done with it. Get her out of our hair. It was an efficient plan. 

  
But… 

Something about that seemed… wrong. 

I looked at Artis and Fidan. And then I looked down at the ground where my lyre was, somehow not really all that damaged for something that had just fallen 30 feet. Then an idea hit me. 

“Wait!” I said. 

“We weren’t going anywhere,” Integrity said. “But what are we waiting for exactly?” 

“I have a plan!” I said. 

“You have a plan?” Serinepth narrowed her eyes. 

“I do! It’s gonna be a long shot. But you gotta trust me on this!” I picked my lyre up off the ground and dusted it off. “Winsler and Serinepth, I’m gonna need you to keep her outside. Integrity, I’m gonna need you to cast thaumaturgy. I wanna make sure she can hear this.” 

“Um, okay.” Integrity raised her hands and suddenly my lyre got a lot louder. Good. 

“Alright see you all later! Unless we die!” I began to run off. 

“Wait… what did she just say about dyin’?” Winsler said from behind me but at that point I could barely hear him. I was too busy running to my destination. I was pretty sure I could still remember how to get there. I went up the endless thing of stairs only to emerge out of a giant door. I opened it. I was here. 

I was on the roof. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh what’s mira’s plan? Hit next chapter to find out!


	132. The Ballad of Artis and Fidan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i asked alec if he wouldn’t mind being seen with me in school together and he asked why it would even be a problem. God, I love him

I leaned over the side of the roof. Geez, this was a long drop. It had been awhile since I had been up here. This was… stressful. Hopefully it goes better than last time. I could see Pirate Fidan on the roof of one of the parts of the castle. She lined sights with me and was beginning to aim at me but then Winsler shot at more bees from the roof window and Serinepth came out too. 

Okay, Mira. It was now or never. I wasn’t sure if this would work, but… universal constants, right? 

I inhaled. And began playing. 

I began playing the song that Elrich taught me all those years ago for my exam. 

It was the song I had played for Fidan. 

It was the song Artis apparently wrote for her. 

B C D B C B A B C B C D D C B A C B G

It was a melody I had heard so many times before and practiced. I asked Elrich once exactly what it was and he told me it was a song about a pirate and a woman who was afraid of the sea and how the two fell in love. A song so legendary it could make even the plants happy. I always wondered who the pirate and the woman were. 

The sound of fighting from far away stopped. At least, I was pretty sure it did. I couldn’t quite focus on it. I needed to make sure I played this correctly. I did look over a bit. Pirate Fidan had stopped fighting. She was looking at me. She could hear it. She could recognize it. That was good. 

But then she shook her head and began trying to shoot Winsler again. 

This wasn’t good. I needed to play louder. I kept trying to play as much as I could. I knew I was getting to her. I knew it could. She just had to remember. She just had to remember. I kept playing it, thinking about the Pirate and the woman he loved. I needed to feel it Mira. C’mon. Feel the emotion. 

It wasn’t stopping. She wasn’t fighting. 

“Geez, you’re really going for this aren’t you?” 

I heard the voice from behind me but I didn’t turn around to see who it was. I knew. It was Train Mira. I couldn’t let her get to me. Not now. 

Train Mira walked around me, as if inspecting me, trying to break my concentration. “Huh. I’m not sure if it’s just the fact that you’re in my body but you’re actually not that bad of a player. I’m impressed.” I couldn’t let her break my concentration. This was too important. I couldn’t screw up the song. 

Train Mira smiled smugly, partially blocking my view from Pirate Fidan. She turned around to look at the fighting. “That’s her, right? Dang. She looks brutal. But yeah she does look like that Fidan lady. Do you really think this will work, then?” 

Whatever, Mira. She’s just another version of you. Don’t give her the satisfaction of day. Just. keep. Playing. 

“Heh.” Train Mira looked at me. “Impressive. You really do care, don’t you?” She stepped by my side. “But you know that’s not going to work. You know why?” 

I remained silent and kept strumming. 

“Because it’s meant for a second part.” Train Mira held out her hand and made a lyre out of goo somehow. Under normal circumstances I would question it but I had more important, more Pirate fighting matters to attend to. Train Mira closed her eyes and began strumming. 

She played an A and C at the same time. Then a G and a B. Then a C and an E. Then landing on a B and D. We were in perfect sync. It was incredible. It felt… really really really cool. 

Once again, I could see the fighting over there stop. Pirate Fidan turned to look at us. Then she was gone in a puff of black smoke and before I knew it, she was in front of us, pistol out and loaded. She approached slowly, her grip loose on her pistol. 

I turned to Train Mira. She nodded to me. 

In synch, we both played 

G A B

C B A 

G F# G

And finished off the song together. 

Pirate Fidan looked at us and dropped her gun. She placed a hook on my shoulder. “How… how do you know that song?” 

“Some things are constant, no matter where you are,” I smiled. “Some love is just that strong. 

“I… he….” Pirate Fidan stumbled. She picked her gun off the ground and looked at it, almost as if she was holding some sort of foreign object. She looked back at me. And then in a puff of smoke, she vanished. 

Train Mira turned to me. “Is… is that it? Is she gone?” 

I put my lyre down. “I think so?” 

“Huh. Well then.” Train Mira made her lyre disappear. “Not bad playing. You could be a professional with some more practice.” 

Just then another puff of smoke appeared, this time blue. Oh no, not this girl again. I got out my lyre, reading to attack. But instead of Pirate FIdan, I saw a very familiar, very pale blue haired goth girl. 

“Hey!” Raven said between huffs of deep breaths. “I have to warn you! Pirate Fidan is on her way! She’s coming to kill you!!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review if you’re excited by the prospect of a Mira and Raven reunion. Also sorry for using your music Ben!!!


	133. my ex best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dylan is a true bro, dude knows a lot about fashion and stuff and he promised to introduce me to cool video games he likes to play

I looked at her. I had to hide my disdain. This woman, this fucking woman, who did all this shit, who was responsible for everything, who did THIS to my best friend. It was just… ugh. 

  
But I also wanted to appear nice so I was like, “Oh yeah don’t worry, I think we took care of her.” 

“Oh….” Raven looked down. “Wait, you did?” 

“Uhh, I think so?” 

“Oh shit.” Raven looked a bit surprised and honestly sad. “Wait, she’s not like… dead, is she?” 

“No no! She just left!” 

“Oh good.” Raven sighed. “I just bought her a cell phone and it was, like, afraid it was gonna be a waste of money, y’know?” 

She was lying. I could tell. 

“Whatever. Anyway, we got it taken care of so… bye.” 

“Oh… okay…” Raven turned around, looking for a portal to leave, before she turned back around again. “Wait, is that another MIra?” 

“Nope!” Train Mira yelled as she began to walk away. “I don’t want any part of this! I’m not doing this whole routine again!” 

I looked back at Raven. “It’s a long story.” 

“Oh…” Raven looked down at her heeled boots. “I… I have time.” 

I raised my eyebrow. “Hm. Well, we’re kinda busy. Trying to save the world and all that.” 

“Oh, right… I can relate…” Raven let her voice trail off again. There was another few moments of silence. “How’s Veronica doing?” 

That caught me off guard. “I’m sorry?” 

“Veronica. Is she okay? Is she, like… y’know…” 

“Um….” It was my turn to awkwardly not know what to say. Dang it, Mira. “She’s fine. She’s breathing. She’s recovering.” I needed to add a little bit more sass to it. “No thanks to you.” 

“I….” Raven sighed. “That was a… a thing. I… do you have anything to drink? I’m thirsty.” 

I didn’t want to. I wanted to tell her to fuck off and leave us alone. Why should she be around us after all she did? 

But then again… 

I thought of Veronica. 

“Yeah. Yeah I think there’s something you can have. Follow me.” I walked over to the door and held it open, waiting for Raven to go through. She did and then I followed suit and eventually took lead, leading her over to the kitchen area which had been completely smashed in. I looked in the pantry and found a small unopened bottle of blood with a note on it that said “MARA’S (DO NOT STEAL).” I took the note off of it and handed it to Raven. 

“Here you go,” I said. 

“Thanks,” she took a drink. “Any cereal I can have this with? I like having cereal with blood.” 

I rolled my eyes and reached into the cupboard again and found a box of Cheerios with a note on it that said “ROCK JERRY’S (DO NOT STEAL)” and took the note off of it and crumbled it up and handled it over to Raven. She took the box and poured the blood into the box and then, taking a spoon out of her pouch on her belt, began to eat the cereal straight out of the box. 

“So,” Raven sat down in the chair that Train Mira once sat in. “Um. How’ve you been with...stuff?” 

I wasn’t sure if I was going to answer her or not. I don’t want the villains knowing about our plans. But then again…. “It’s been… a lot. Lot of stuff going on. Political coup. Zombie fighting. Train explosions.” 

“Dang. That’s a lot.” Raven took another bite of cereal. “I went back to school.” 

“Oh really?” 

“Yeah. A Sith school. We killed a lot of people. It was pretty cool.” Raven spoke with food in her mouth. “There was, like… a version of you there. But with one of those apostrophe things in her name that made it really hard to pronounce. She was okay. A little rude. Bad relationship with her sisters apparently.” 

“Haha, Imagine that…” I trailed off, awkwardly. 

Just then, Mara walked into the room, looking at the rubble around us before shrugging and standing on her tip toes to reach the cupboard. She searched around in there for a bit before stepping down, confused. She turned to us. “Hey, has anyone seen a bottle of blood in here?” 

“Nope,” Raven said as she took a bite of blood cereal. 

“Darn it…” Mara sighed. “Wait, who are you?” 

“Uhhhh, Mara, you should leave,” I told her. “This is a, um, grown up conversation.” 

Mara rolled her eyes. “Okay, whatever, I guess. I’ll just go ask mom for one.” 

Mara walked out of the room. Raven’s eyes followed her before going back to me. “Who’s she?” 

“You are not to talk to her!” I said very sternly. 

“Why not?” 

“I don’t want you corrupting her with your whole… thing!” 

Raven looked hurt. “You’d think I’d corrupt her?” 

“I mean, you are evil now, right?” 

She paused. She looked… really really hurt. “You really thought I was evil?” 

“Are you not?” 

Raven’s eyes started to water a bit. I tried to look away. 

“Look, um, Raven.” I sighed. “Things are… intense around here. If you don’t mind, you can leave as soon as possible. I don’t want you getting in the way of things.” 

“I…. and what if I want to help?” 

“Raven… when was the last time you actually did anything to help?” 

There was another figure that entered the doorway. I huffed. I didn’t have time for this. “Mara, I told you to stay out of here. Go find your mom.” 

“Mara?” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned around. Standing there, slightly hunched over in blood stained clothes was Veronica. Her face had mostly healed, minus a few cuts, and her eyes were droopy. Somehow her hair still looked nice though? She smiled at me. “Good to see you again, Mira.” 

But then her eyes turned to the person at the table with me. Raven looked up, a look of shock on her face. She dropped her spoon on the floor. There were a few moments of silence, the sound of the metal echo reverberating around the room. 

Veronica was the first to break the silence. “Oh. It’s you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re excited about Raven and Veronica finally talking to each other like goddamn adults


	134. talking it out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i got a message in the mail from Alyssa and I was curious what it was and it turns out it was that poster I let her borrow last year

So this was a real good time to be Veronica. 

Wake up, confused as fuck in a hospital bed because a bunch of goddamn noise is waking me up, pet my cat and put my plush aside as I try and go figure out what happened, stumble along the big ass fucking castle that’s too fucking confusing and is more like a goddamn campus than a house, trying to find the kitchen because i’m hungry as shit and then I finally find someone I wanna talk to (Mira) and who else is there but goddamn Raven Wilow Blood Charm. 

She was sitting there, eating cereal out of the box, Mira sitting across from her. Mira looked really happy to see me but then the awkwardness of the situation must have hit her because then she looked really really weird. “Um. Hey.” 

“Hey Mira.” I couldn’t look at her, my eyes were focused on Raven. “Mira. Do you mind leaving the two of us alone?” 

“Oh, uh.” She was taken aback. “Are you sure?” 

“Yeah. I got this.” 

She hesitantly got up and walked out of the room. She whispered into my ear, “If things get rough, I got your back.” I just nodded in return and went to sit down where she was. 

There were a few moments of silence. Raven wasn’t even taking a bite of her cereal. We just kinda sat there, her looking the other direction as I looked her directly in her eyes. 

I finally broke the tension. “How’s the hand?” 

“Hm?” Her voice creaked. She was so nervous. “Um. It’s good as new. How’s the body?” 

“Still really sore. Hopefully it’ll get better soon.” 

“Yeah. Hopefully…” There were another few moments of silence. Raven slowly raised up the spoon to her mouth and took a bite of her cereal. It was very loud. 

Also reminded me that I was hungry. Ugh. I walked over to the fridge, opened up the freezer, pulled out some french toast sticks and using my green energy warmed them up. I sat back down in the chair and started eating them. 

“You eat food now?” Raven asked, cereal in her mouth. 

“I’ve been eating food, smart ass. Ever since the train.” 

“Oh…” Raven looked down. “I… I guess that makes sense, since you’re human now. I just figured with, like, the god powers and everything that… y’know…” 

Raven sunk into her chair. God. Raven always looked pretty pathetic, sure. But now she somehow looked more pathetic than she ever had before. 

I took a bite of french toast. “So what brings you here?” 

“Um, well. Pirate Fidan was on her way and I went to come and help stop her but I guess everyone here took care of that already. Wait, that reminds me.” She took a phone out from her corset and began typing on it. I could hear the sound of a message sending. “Alright, anyway. WIth that taken care of, I guess I’m just… here.” 

“I see.” I had another bite of french toast. “Well cool. Guess you can be on your way soon then.” 

“I mean. I guess. Um. I… are we cool?” 

I paused. “Pardon?” 

“Like… I don’t know…” 

“Raven. You beat the shit out of me. You killed me.” 

“Okay, yeah, but like… you understand, right?” 

“No.” But then I sighed. “Nah, I do. I get it.” 

“You do?” She dropped her spoon. 

“Yeah. Like, you have every right to be mad at me. I was a monster back then. I did… I did a lot of really really bad shit. And I did it just to hurt you. And I’m sorry. Truly.” 

“T-thanks…” 

“That being said,” I added. “That doesn’t excuse any of the shit you put me through.” 

“Oh…” Raven’s voice got quiet, meek. 

“You created me, immediately told me you planned on killing me, then sent me on a date. And then… yeah, I did all of that bad stuff. But then you changed my identity, changed my mind, changed everyone else’s mind, and then the moment everyone found out, you tried to kill me again. Like, what the fuck?” 

“I mean…” 

“And then you tried to kill me one more time on the train and that didn’t work so then you fuck off and then come back when I’m in the middle of important shit, kill the person that I needed to kill, and then beat the everloving shit out of me and fucking kill me.” 

“You got better….” 

“I did. But it hurt like hell.” I ate a french toast stick disdainfully. 

“Look, Veronica, I’m…. I’m sorry. I thought you were still bad. I thought I was doing good. I thought I was… saving everything and…” She sighed. “That’s partially a lie. I was mad at you. I hated you. I wanted revenge. And I did such awful things to get it.” 

“I know the feeling.” 

She paused and picked her spoon up off the ground and put it back in the cereal box. “So… you don’t want to kill me, right?” 

“Raven. I haven’t wanted to kill you for a while.” 

“Right….” 

“What about you? Do you still want to kill me?” 

“I….” She huffed. “What would even be the point of it anymore….” 

“Hm.” I took one last bite of french toast and then threw the empty box on the smashed crater in the floor of the kitchen. “Food is good, y’know. I didn’t get to have any when I spent those weeks in the sewers of Wild Cliff.” 

“Weeks?” Raven looked confused. “That whole period of time was only a few days.” 

“Really?” I stroked my chin. God, time was more fucked than I thought. 

“You look good!” Raven said. “I know you didn’t come up with that form yourself but, y’know, you really make it work.” 

I looked at her strangely. “Uh, thanks. And I guess if it’s Sith Lord goth queen look you’re going for, you’re rocking it too.” 

“Thanks.” She slightly smiled with black painted lips. “It might be… too much, but…” 

I shrugged. “Eh. If you like it, you like it. It’s not my cup of tea but it suits you.” 

More awkward silence. 

This was fun. 

“So what are you going to do now?” I asked her. 

“Hm? Um. That’s… a good question. I could go find my friends.” 

“You have friends?” 

She put her hand to her chest. “Y-yeah! Of course I do!” She paused. “They just haven’t found me yet.” 

“Damn that sucks.” I leaned back. “Well, I’m sure they’ll get to you soon.” 

Suddenly a figure came rushing into the door frame and skidded to a quick stop. She huffed her breath heavily and wiped sweat off of her horns. “So what Mara told me was true…” Integrity said. 

Raven jumped up. “Integrity?” 

“What did Mara say, Idleberry?” I looked at her. Something about her was different. “Wait, you got Mara back?” 

Integrity ignored my questions, instead just walked up closer to Raven, slowly. “She told me there was a strange blue haired woman talking to Mira. I knew who it was. Who it had to be.” 

Raven stood up now. The two were eye level. “Um. Hey, Integrity….” 

“Sup, fucker?” Integrity said, a look of intensity in her red eyes. 

Wait. Red eyes? 

“Um, not much.” Raven looked down awkwardly. “Something about you is different… Wait… are you a vampire now???” 

Wait, what the fuck?? Was she a vampire now?? 

“What’s it to you?” Integrity said. 

“How did that happen?? That seems like a whole ordeal!” Integrity was silent. Raven huffed. “You shot me in the stomach, y’know.” 

“I know.” 

“Do you regret that?” 

“Nope.” 

“I see… Did you… wanna maybe… hang out sometime…?” 

“Nope.” Integrity turned around. “I just needed to make sure it was really you.” 

“I see… Well, um. It’s great to see you again! You look good! And not just because you’re a vampire now!” 

Integrity held up her middle finger and then walked off. I turned to Raven. “Well, it was great catching up but if you don’t mind, I have some important shit I need to do. So, uh, see you around.” 

I started walking away but then I felt Raven’s hand on my shoulder. “Wait!” I turned around to see what it was that she wanted. “You said something about Elrich, right?” 

“Yeah? We’re trying to stop his dumbass zombie form.” 

“Oh…” She twiddled her fingers like a small child. “Do you need help with that?” 

“Nope. We got all bases covered.” 

“Oh…. Do you mind if I help with that?” 

What was this bitch on about? “Why would you even want to?” 

“Well, this is kinda my fault, right? I killed Elrich the first time…. And Elrich, another universe’s Elrich… was my dad. So it kinda just… feels right for me to try and help. Y’know. Do something good for once.” 

Oh yeah. I forgot for a moment. Her real name was Raven Raethran. That was a whole plot twist back when that happened. I remembered then… She killed this Elrich. I killed an Elrich too. I guess I can get the desire to set things right. I exhaled. “You can sit in on the meeting. But I can’t guarantee you’ll get to do much.” 

“FUCK YEAH!” Raven jumped up in the air with her fist up and landed down. This bitch. She must’ve realized how this looked to me because her head hung down. “Sorry…” 

“It’s whatever. Follow me,” I said as I turned on my boots and made my way over to the planning room, Raven Willow Blood Charm at my side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: aww leave a review if you’re glad these two aren’t trying to fucking kill each other anymore


	135. a plan of attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I’m so glad things are finally going well now. Things have been… so bad for so long. And now it’s fine

I walked into the planning room where Delnys currently had her feet up on the table, which was now completely covered in duct tape. The fuck happened there? Serinepth was sitting at the table, watching her hands as they slightly shook while Winsler was cleaning his gun. Train Mira was in the corner, strumming some of her lyre. They all turned to look at us. Or, more importantly, to Raven. 

“Oh my god. It’s you!” Delnys exaggeratedly gasped. And then under her breath said, “I don’t even know who you are.” 

“Raven?” Serinepth stood up. “Is that you?” 

“Oh, Raven?” Train Mira looked over. “I was told that I was supposed to wake you up. So. Wake up.” 

“Um, thanks?” Raven said in return. 

“You’re welcome.” Train Mira winked and did two finger guns before going back to her lyre. 

Serinepth looked at me. “Veronica, is everything okay? Do you need us to kill her for you?” 

“What? No. Nah she’s chill now. She just wants to sit in the corner and watch and not interject with any dumbass plans. Is that right, Raven?” 

Raven ignored my rhetorical question and instead walked over to Serinepth. “Wow. You look different. Older. Are you my Serinepth or a different Serinepth from an older universe?” 

“Um. No. We’re from the same universe, I believe.” 

“Ah, well.” Raven took her seat in the corner. “You look good.” 

Winsler tipped his hat. “Great to have you back again, Raven.” 

“Great to see you again, Winsler! I’m glad you got your gun back! I hope you don’t shoot me with it!” 

“Huh?” Winsler said confused but before we could follow up on that weird train of thought, Mira and Integrity came in with Mara, Artis and Fidan. 

“What are they doing here?” I asked Mira. 

Mira walked over besides me. “Oh, well… We just figured, if this is it, if we’re really going to do this, then it’s best if all the current main and supporting cast were here in the room, both for one last final hurrah from a story perspective but also just so that everyone is on the same page regarding what the plan is for the final battle.” 

“I see,” I turned to Serinepth. “So is this it then? Are we actually going to go do this?” 

“Well,” Serinepth walked over to the whiteboard where I wrote Necromancer and Reality Emerald and crossed them both out. “We currently have both of the things in our possessions. So that took the two main obstacles out of the way.” 

Integrity put her foot on the table. “Plus Operation: ‘Rescue Mara’ was a complete success!” 

Delnys rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you die during it?” 

“Operation: Rescue Mara was a complete success!” Integrity smiled and then ruffled Mara’s hair. 

I could see Raven in the corner, stroking her chin. She was looking at Fidan very strangely, almost as if she was familiar with the person. Finally Raven poked Fidan on the shoulder and said, “Argggh! Ye be havin a redemption arc too?” 

Fidan looked at her and then looked at us. “The fuck is her problem?” 

Raven’s eyes widened. “Oh my god! I’m sorry!! You must be a non pirate Fidan! And you must be a non pirate Artis! Oh fuck oh shit I’m so sorry.” 

Serinepth lightly coughed. “Ahem. So with everything in mind, we theoretically have what we need in order to kill Elrich for good. Except for a plan.” 

“A plan seems like a good idea…” Winsler adjusted his glasses. 

I turned to Delnys. “How long would it take for you to lift the necromancy spell thingamajig on him?” 

“.... You really don’t know anything about what I do, do you?” 

“You raise dead people with goth magic, look, can you just fucking answer the question?” 

Delnys huffed. “A few minutes.” 

“Oh that’s not so long!” Integrity said. 

“It is when someone wants to kill you,” Delnys responded. She put a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “Dad’s not going to take this lightly and he’s probably going to try and go right after me the second he realizes what’s going on.” 

“So we distract him until then.” I shrugged. It seemed simple enough. 

“How do we plan on doing that?” Serinepth asked, writing more stuff down on the whiteboard. “Are we just going to… go in there and beat the shit out of him?” 

“Why not?” I looked around. 

“Because he is very strong,” Artis spoke up. He raised up his fingerless hand. “He was able to take out all of us effortlessly within a minute or two. If he knows what we’re up to, he can stop us without a doubt.” 

“Okay but dad I’ve killed this dude several times!” Mara looked up at Artis. “Send me in there and I’ll kill him in enough time for Delnys to go kill him for real.” 

“Absolutely not,” Artis said bluntly. 

“Why not?” 

“Mara you are not to go anywhere near that battlefield.” 

“Yeah!” Integrity piped up. “You’re 14. You’re not supposed to be out there killing things! That’s what 15 years olds are supposed to do.” 

Mara crossed her arms and moved to stand over by Raven in the corner. “I’m the strongest person here, though…” she whispered to herself. 

“Mr. Artisan raises a good point.” Serinepth began chewing on the end of the dry erase marker. “Fighting Elrich directly, as our primary A plan, seems to be a very bad idea.” 

“So what are you proposing?” I wished I could read Serinepth’s mind sometimes. 

“Perhaps the way to start this off isn’t to go in for an attack, but to make him think everything is fine.” 

That made no sense to me. “You mean while Delnys is currently undoing a spell on him?” 

“Well, what if he thought Delnys was doing something else?” Mira yelled excitedly. She turned to me. “Veronica, you have your transformation powers back, right?” 

It took me a moment to realize what she was implying. I guess Delnys realized it too as she stood up and walked over to Mira. “No no no. Absolutely not. No way is she going to impersonate me. He’ll figure it out right away.” 

That was a good point. On the other hand… it WAS a possibility. I felt my stomach glow and then I made sure to change my form into an exact replica of Delnys. “I don’t know, Delnys. It could work.” 

Delnys rolled her eyes. “You look like me, sure, but can you sound like me?” 

I coughed and did my best posh european accent. “ _Hello, I am Delnys Raethran and I’m mean to people a lot these days.”_

“Why the fuck did you make me sound Russian?” Delnys sat back down. “But okay fine. We can try it. Position Veronica in there where dad notices her as me and then doesn’t notice me. But when it fails because Veronica sucks shit, what’s the plan then?” 

Raven stood up from her chair. “I can be on stand-by!” Everyone looked at her, either because they couldn’t believe Raven would try to help or because they had no idea who this weird goth child sitting in the corner was like this was a Japanese Horror movie. “Like, I’m super super strong. I killed Elrich before and I’m pretty sure I can do that again.” 

“Oh right. Thanks for that.” Delnys scowled. 

I walked up to my blue haired… whatever the fuck she was to me now. “With all due respect, Raven, I don’t want you getting anywhere near the battlefield.” 

“Why? Do you not trust me?” 

“I trust you to try to help out. I’m just not sure if I can trust you to not screw this up.” 

“I’m… I’m capable.” 

“Mhm. Raven, this is very important. You just got here. I’m not going to send you in.” 

It was time for Mara to interject again. “Well what if she’s back up to the backup?” 

“Then that would be confusing as fuck,” I said. “What do you even mean?” 

“Well I can go in before her. And if things go wrong, then we can send her in. I can babysit her until then.” 

I could hear Raven mutter something like “wtf but i’m older” but it was covered up by Artis going. “Mara, what did I just say? I told you you’re not seeing the battlefield.” 

“But dad!” 

“Artis,” Fidan held his hand tenderly. “We might need to let her.” 

“Honey…” Artis sighed. “I don’t want her in any more danger…” 

“This is about more than her though.” Fidan smiled. “I was doing more dangerous shit when I was her age, and so were you.” 

Integrity walked up and placed her hand on Artis’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, pops. I’ll make sure nothing happens to Mara because I’m gonna make her the back up of the back up of the backup.” 

Artis removed her hand. “Please don’t call me pops. Also what are you proposing, Ms. Idleberry?” 

“I’ll go in first. Then if for some reason I can’t handle it, we’ll send in Mara, and if she can’t handle it, we’ll send in Raven.” 

I snorted. “Okay. This is turning into a goddamn conga line.” 

“Also this ain’t fair.” Winsler wobbled over on the rickety table. “This is SWIM’s final mission. Shouldn’t we do it together?” 

“That’s a fair point,” Mira added. “I can be of use too. I can use hold person if needed, or do any other stuff. Plus Serinepth’s a goddamn powerhouse.” 

Serinepth blushed. “I am pretty strong, yes.” She turned around to the white board and began writing a tier list. “Okay, so let me understand if I get this right. First ones being sent in are Delnys and Veronica disguised as Delnys. If things happen to go wrong there, then we send in me and WIM. And if things still go wrong after that, we send in Mara. And then, god forbid, last ditch effort, we send in Raven. How does that sound?” 

“It sounds like I’m going last no matter what, huh?” Raven slouched. 

I turned to Train Mira. “Do you want to help out at all in this?” 

She shrugged. “Do you want me too? I’ve only had this body for, like, a week. I have no idea what I can even do with it. Just don’t let my girlfriend die and I’m fine.” 

“Don’t worry, darling, I won’t.” Delnys smiled at Train Mira and the girl blushed in response. I guess things were going a bit better for them. Whatever. 

Raven raised her hand. And she kept raising it and waving it around. No one really gave her any attention until Mara turned around. “Um, yes ma’am?” 

Raven put her arm down. “How are we going to know if things don’t go well if we aren’t there?” 

“That’s actually a good question, Blood Charm…” Serinepth chewed on the end of the dry erase marker again. 

Delnys walked up to Train Mira. “Darling, pardon me asking this of you, but can I borrow some of your goo?” 

“What? Babe, there’s people around!” Train Mira gasped. “What for?” 

“If things start going wrong, I can communicate to you through the goo. Then you can send people in through waves.” 

“Huh…” Train MIra pulled off her left ring finger and handed it to Delnys. It melted into a ball of what looked like Play-Doh. “Fine. I guess I can do this.” 

“Then it’s settled.” Serinepth put the marker down and leaned against the whiteboard. “Do we have everything worked out?” 

I looked around. Everyone kinda nodded. 

This was it. 

We were ready to go face Elrich. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re ready to go face ELrich


	136. one final prep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i emailed the counselors at my school and asked if there was anything they could do to change my name to Mason. Here’s hoping ^_^

Serinepth breathed in nervously. “Okay, so if that’s it…. Everyone get prepped. We’re meeting up here in five minutes to get ready to go.” 

I raised my hand this time. “Your five minutes or my five minutes?” 

“Just get back here, Elm Rune.” 

Everyone stepped out of the room to go to their own respective rooms and get prepped. I saw Mira start to leave so I went and tapped her on the shoulder. “Hm?” she asked. 

“Hey. I have something I need to ask you.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Do you have that… thing we went for?” 

Mira’s eyes widened. “Oh! Right!” She zipped open her backpack and pulled out a small blue stuffed whale. “Here you go.” 

I took the stuffed whale in my hand, confused at how the fuck I was expected to use it. Well. Doesn’t hurt to try whatever? I wrapped my arms around it and gave it a tight hug and as I did, I could feel the blue energy from the plush go into my body. Before long, there wasn’t even a plush to hold. I did it. I got my reality powers back. 

Hell yeah. This felt good. 

“Thanks,” I smiled at her. 

“No problem!” She got nervous for a second. “Um. I guess I’ll go get a short rest in, see if I can get some spell slots back.” 

“Sure. I got something I need to do too.” The two of us parted ways as I made my way back to the medical wing and entered. There, right where I left them, were a dragon plush and a small cat man. Macavity was still asleep. I went ahead and pet his head. “Hey. I know you’re asleep and also a huge asshole. But I’m leaving soon to do this. Just thought I’d let you know.” 

I didn’t want to risk waking him up because I’ve been told that it’s the worst thing you can do to a cat and also he’s a real dick and I don’t want to deal with that right now. I did go ahead and use my yellow powers to change my outfit back to being not damaged and bloody. Granted, it wouldn’t matter once I was disguised as Delnys, but it made ME feel better at least. I went to walk out of the door but a familiar sith bitch was blocking the way. 

“Oh, um, hey,” she said. 

“Raven. What do you want?” 

“Oh, nothing!” she said. “I just… don’t have anywhere else to go, at the moment. Weirdly enough, you’re the nicest person here to me.” 

“Shocking, I know. Anyway, I better get heading back.” I started taking steps forward. 

Raven walked besides me. “Y’know, that was different. Everything is different. You all have changed, y’know?” 

“Yeah? So have you.” 

“Do you mean that in a good way or a bad way?” 

“Not sure.” 

“Well…” Raven breathed in. “Regardless, I’m…. I can’t believe I’m saying this, fuck… I’m proud of you.” 

That got me to stop. “Really?” 

“Yeah! Like, when I made you in my bedroom all that year ago, fuck, I didn’t realize you’d become, well… this.” 

“Yeah me neither.” I started walking again. “But thanks.” 

Raven started walking besides me too but then stopped. “Hey. One final question, before I leave you alone.” 

I stopped and turned around. “What?” 

“Why did you spare me? You could’ve killed me then. Was it just that it would’ve been bad to kill me here?” 

I shrugged. “Just didn’t seem like the ethical thing to do.” 

And then I kept walking back into the planning room. Everyone else was here too, in nice fancy final battle outfits that I’ll let fanartists decide on. Delnys was wearing a fancy black flapper witch outfit with a big spellbook by her side. “Took you long enough. You’re going to want to teleport to look like this. This is how he’ll expect me to look.” 

I did as told and transformed into a second Delnys. “Alright, then. Where are we going?” 

“First thing’s first, the main place I’d expect him to be: our manor.” She opened up a black portal. “Go ahead and open up a blue one that matches mine. You can do that, right? We can’t be seen going in together.” 

I nodded and did as told. Two portals, side by side, stood in the planning room. I looked at Delnys and our eyes matched as we made slow steps through to find… nothing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re excited for the fight


	137. The Final Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: counselors emailed back! Said so long as I had parent approval, I could get it done!

I was in what looked like a shitty fancy dorm room. Kinda reminded me of the Wild Cliff Express. But no Elrich. “Dad?” I yelled in my best fake posh european accent. 

The door opened and I was afraid for a moment before I realized it was just Delnys. “No use. I found the note he left.” 

She held up a piece of paper to me. It just said in really shitty professor handwriting “ _if you’re looking for me, be sure you’re on the right track”_

“Oh fuck do we have to solve riddles now?” I groaned. 

“No.” Delnys huffed. “I already know what he’s talking about.” She opened up a portal and I opened up one to match hers and we stepped through. 

I went through the portal into what looked to be a giant desert. It was familiar. I think I would’ve recognized it even if it wasn’t for the giant smashed train on the side. Yep. I knew the Wild Cliff Express when I saw it. I also could see a filing cabinet leaning on it and a bit of a black light coming from behind it. That must’ve been her. But I couldn’t focus on that, because instead there was a corpse sitting criss cross on the sand, his eyes closed. It would’ve been peaceful if it wasn’t so disturbing. “Delnys?” Zombie Elrich said. 

“Yes, dad.” I walked up and put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s me. I’m back.” 

He opened his eyes and looked at me with a look of disdain. “I wasn’t talking about you.” 

I began sweating a bit. “What do you mean, father?” 

He grabbed me by my wrist. “Veronica. Are you so dumb that you forget I can hear names?” 

Oh fuck. 

Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck 

His hand glowed blue and began to burn my wrist which hurt like hell. Two could play that game. I made my wrist glow blue with my reality powers and tried to burn his hand but then I forgot zombies don’t have nerve endings so it didn’t do much. His body started to glow black for a brief moment which made him release me. 

I went to raise my hand and throw a green explosive ball at him while he was locked in place but instead it just went right through him as he slowly regenerated. It actually helped, as it made the black aura around him fizzle out a bit, which allowed him to move his hand and cause it to glow blue with energy. Suddenly the black glow stopped and Delnys had phased through the destroyed train and over to us, her neck being held up by a blue glow of energy. He waved his other hand and suddenly I was enveloped by a blue glow and unable to move, just like that time on the roof. This asshole. 

“Ah, Veronica. I take it you didn’t kill Raven. Sad. I was really hoping you would. Guess I overestimated just how murderous you were.” 

“Piss off, ass brain.” I spat on him. He smiled and turned to the other girl. 

“Oh Delnys. It’s lovely to see you again, one last time.” Zombie Elrich smiled. 

“Fuck you!” Delnys yelled but then the blue glow choked her even more. I could see her pinch something in between her fingers - the goo. 

Suddenly a portal opened up and a bullet went through and grazed Zombie Elrich’s side. He kneeled down in pain and covered his wound with his hands, which caused Delnys to fall down hard onto the sand. She found her footing and started running back behind the train to get her book. 

Meanwhile, through the portal, SWIM appeared. Mira was playing her lyre which she used to cast Hold Person but I guess Elrich had really high wisdom because it didn’t seem to work. Instead he threw a ball of blue energy and Mira’s lyre raised in the air and exploded.  
  


“NO!” Mira yelled. “How could you??”” 

Suddenly Integrity ran up and kicked Zombie Elrich in the head, causing it to turn 360 degrees on its axis. Then she took out her dagger and began stabbing him multiple times in the stomach. “THIS. IS. PRAXIS. YOU. ASSWIPE.” 

Zombie Elrich just turned his head around and poked Integrity in the eye with his glowing blue finger. “That’s not what that word means.” 

Integrity stumbled back and fell to the ground, her hand covering her eye. She yelled in pain. “AH FUCK! The fuck did you do to my eye??” 

“What eye?” Elrich smiled but then he was hit by 4 scorching rays to the stomach, which tore him apart. 

Serinepth stood there, smoke coming out of her finger like a gun and she blew on it to let it out. Winsler came forward and shot Elrich in the head many times with his gun. Everything looked fine, like Elrich was out… but then why wasn’t I let go? 

It was then I noticed Elrich’s fingers move a bit and suddenly the blue glow that surrounded me surrounded everybody. We were all locked in place. 

Elrich’s body healed and he stood back up. “Ah, well. That was fun. But I think that’s enough of that.” 

Another portal opened up and Mara went through. She ran forward with super fast, unnatural vampire speed but then Elrich waved his hand and she was frozen in place too. “Mara, dear. I’m not going to fight you.” 

There was another portal opening up and Raven came through, blue lightsaber in hand, and stabbed Elrich right through the stomach and then went to cut off his head. 

We were all released from the blue glow as Elrich’s body laid limp on the floor. 

“Holy shit, Raven….”I said, catching my breath. “Thanks.” 

She just smiled at me. “Really? You mean it?? .. I mean. It was fuckin nothing.” 

I went to hold up my hands to go surround Elrich in the same blue glow. “DELNYS, GET THE BOOK READY.” 

“I’m trying!” I heard her yell back from behind the train. 

But then Elrich’s head attached to his body, even quicker than normal, and he stood up again. “Ah, Raven. You’re here. Finally. I’ve been waiting. I haven’t seen you since you killed me. And about that…” Elrich raised his hands and Raven glowed blue. Not like us when we were locked in place but… no… 

Like Teb.

Suddenly Raven’s body kept glowing and glowing and the girl looked really concerned and worried and in pain and then suddenly her body exploded into shatters of nothingness, leaving nothing but a glowing blue cross necklace behind. 

Oh fuck. 

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck 

  
  


Wait. 

DId that mean…? 

Suddenly the small filing cabinet that was leaning on the train exploded, sending a ripple effect into the air that made the sky shatter like glass. 

“So,” Elrich sat down, calmly. “It’s begun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: RIP Raven Willow Blood Charm


	138. reprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dad signed the forms. It’s happening. It’s really happening.

“What did you do??” I walked up to Elrich and grabbed his collar. 

He just smiled. “Exactly what I said I would.” 

The two reality emeralds. Raven’s death. He wanted us to come here. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. This was a setup. Fuck. 

The sky kept cracking and cracking and the ground below us began shaking. It was bizarre. It reminded me back of Wild Cliff, though this was way more violent and intense. And way faster. Way way faster. 

“Um, sis?” I heard the small voice of Mara say and we all turned to her. She held up her hand. It was static-y, almost like a TV glitching. And as she held it up, the static expanded up her arms, covering more and more of it. 

Integrity started mumbling under her breath. “No.. no no no no no no..” She rushed over to Mara but by the time she got over there and reached for the half vampire girl’s other hand, the static had consumed all of Mara’s body. There was a moment of visual glitching and then it faded away. 

Mara was gone. 

Integrity turned to Elrich, fury in her eye. “I’ll kill you. And then I’ll have Delnys bring you back and I’ll kill you over and over again. I swear. I swear to god.” She rushed over to Elrich, rapier withdrawn, but with every step she took, static went up and up her leg, causing her body to visually glitch and eventually it consumed her and right before she was face to face with Elrich, her body was consumed and then it vanished. 

“How… How could you?” I said to him. 

“It’s great. It’ll all return to nothing. And then something new and better can begin.” He turned and smiled at me. 

“You’re… so fucking self centered.” I said to him, gritting my teeth. 

He closed his eyes and held up his arm which had already been consumed by the static. “How is this self centered? I’m sacrificing myself too.” 

“You fucking asshole!” I went to explode him but before I could, the static consumed his body and just like that, Elrich was gone. 

We all looked at each other, trying to balance our feet on the shaking ground. I looked up at the sky. It look like shattered glass, each shattered part a different bright saturated color. I looked at Mira, who was shaking. Winsler and Serinepth were there too, both speechless. Delnys stumbled out from the back of the train, her spellbook in one hand and the goop in the other. 

We’re not going down like this. We have to do something. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: RIP Mara RIP Integrity RIP Elrich


	139. komm susser tod

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is the happiest I’ve been in a while. Just… wow

Delnys sniffled. She dropped her spellbook, holding the goo with both hands now. “God. I’m… sorry… Fuck, this is my fault.” 

I didn’t have a way to respond to that. I was too stunned by what I was seeing. Last time this happened, I wasn’t worried. I was on my throne. I didn’t have to worry about anything. 

But now… 

I gotta save my friends. I gotta. 

But we didn’t have much time. This was going much faster than it did last time. Something was up. Maybe it had something to do with that filing cabinet explosion? What the fuck was that about?? 

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely noticed as the static consumed Delnys and the goo and left nothing in return. Mira, however, was watching the whole time. Her body was tense. She was… crying. 

Winsler fell over onto the sand. He looked down at his legs. They were all static. Serinepth got down by his side. “Winsler!” she yelled. 

“Ehhh I’m okay.” He was lying. “This ain’t really that painful. I’ve gone out worse ways. Just, uh… if Mr. Wiggles or my bees survive this, let them know I loved them, okay?” 

Serinepth couldn’t hold back the tears and she held her friend’s hand. “Okay.” And before long the static consumed that and she was holding onto nothing. He was gone too. 

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. 

The static started in Serinepth’s upper half of her face and made its way down. She looked at her hands in disbelief and then… what seemed to be contentment? Maybe she just realized that after everything that happened, this was inevitable. Before long, the static consumed her and she was gone too. 

No. No no no. This couldn’t happen. No. 

The ground continued shaking. The ground continued cracking. 

Mira still wasn’t moving. 

I ran over to her. “Mira, this universe is falling apart. Fast. We have to do something.” 

Her body was still locked in place. She couldn’t even look at me. “What does it matter? It’s happening again.” 

“We can fix this! There’s still time!” I said. I grabbed onto her left hand and opened up a blue portal. “C’mon. Follow me.” 

“Huh?” She looked at my hand like she was looking at a foreign object. “Where are we going?” 

“Another universe. They have to be better than this. Maybe there’s another one that’s still around and stable.” 

I pulled her forward as she began stepping with me as we ran through the blue rift into the unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: RIP Delnys RIP Train Mira RIP Winsler RIP Serinepth


	140. it all returns to nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: readers, i know that we’ve been through a lot of bad shit together. And that the story has sometimes been depressing and intense and it might be so right now. But i’m gonna need you to trust me on this, okay?

We stepped through and set foot in what looked like some sort of forest universe. Or at least, a universe that had a forest in it. I looked around for any signs of life, but couldn’t see any. 

I could see cracks in the ceiling, though. 

“Fuck.” I said aloud. 

“Veronica…” Mira said, under her breath. 

“It’s fine!” I opened up a blue portal and made our way through. We were in what looked like a destroyed city, overrun by lots of vegetation. There was what appeared to be a tiny little town at the bottom of a mountain scape. The ground here was also shaking and the sky was also cracking. 

Fuck. This wasn’t looking good. What the fuck did he do to be able to destroy this much?? 

“Veronica…” Mira said even louder. 

“It’s okay!” I lied. “This’ll be fine.” I opened up another portal. And another portal. And another portal. And no matter where we went, it was the same story. Shaking floor, cracked sky. 

I was just about to open a portal to get us out of this current universe, one that existed entirely of volcanoes and tiny lakes, when Mira pulled on my shirt sleeve. “Veronica!” 

“WHAT?” I turned around to see that her right arm had been completely covered by static. “Oh. Oh my god no.” 

“It’s fine….” She said, silently, but then she began crying. “It’s not fine. I don’t want to go.” 

“You don’t have to!” I said. “I’ll fix this! I know I can!” 

Mira sniffled, She wiped her tears away with a static hand. “You promise too much, Veronica. It’s one of the best and worst things about you.” 

“I…” I took her other hand, which was also now completely covered in static. “I can’t… I can’t lose you. Not you.” 

“Veronica…” Mira said as the static overtook her body. “I l-” 

But then her mouth was covered by static. And her body glitched and phased. And soon it was cleared away, leaving nothing in her place and leaving nobody in my hands. 

Speaking of my hands 

They were covered in static too. 

The sky above me began to crack. 

The ground below me shook. 

I could open a portal. 

I could try to move. 

But Mira was right.

It’s too late. 

I can’t do this. 

I watched as the static consumed my arm. And then my chest. And then my legs. And then my neck. And then finally I could feel it over my face and then things got weird and then i could feel n

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: RIP Mira and everyone else


	141. Chapter 141

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


I

I 

I 

I

I

I

I think. 

I

I 

I 

I exist

I 

I

I think

I think about 

I think about where

I think about where I am

I think about 

I think about who I am

I am 

I am 

I am 

I am 

I blink 

I have eyes

I have eyes? 

I can blink 

I blink 

I look at myself. 

Can I look at myself?

I cannot see myself 

I cannot see anything of note

I blink

I blink

I blink 

I sniffle. 

Oh? I have a nose. 

I sniffle. 

That’s what it is, right? A nose? 

Brain is empty. 

Head weird. 

Head. That’s what I have. 

Okay. 

I can smell things. 

There’s nothing to smell. 

I look down. 

Down? 

There’s something attached to my

head. 

Body. My body. That’s mine. 

And these things growing from it. 

Arms, right? 

I can move them. 

That’s good. 

These things growing on them. Fingers I believe? Interesting. They move when I tell them to move. 

Huh. 

That’s fuckin cool. 

Huh? 

What was that? 

That word? 

I

I don’t fucking know. 

I have legs now. I can move them. Up and down. Up and down. 

I’m basically back. 

Well. 

Not quite. 

There’s a tingling in my scalp. It itches. 

It cascades down my head. I grab some of it with my hands(?) and put it in line of sight. 

Hair. Brown. 

Huh. 

Something is wrapping around me. Fabric. It’s constricting me. Clothes. Tank top. Pants. Boots. 

I see. 

Okay. 

I look down at myself. Everything seems to be back. 

I think. 

Except

There’s a glowing. In my stomach. I feel something surge through me. 

That’s

odd.

What is that? 

My

powers. 

That’s right. I have powers. 

I got them from… somewhere. 

Thinking is hard. 

I can’t even think of my name. 

My name. 

My name

My name is

My name is 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


My name is Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. 

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck I’m back. Oh fuck. What the fuck? What was that? I looked down at my hands and moved them. Everything was back as it should be, I think? No static. No static. What was the thing with the static? 

Oh god. Oh no oh god oh fuck. Mira. Raven. Everyone. They’re gone. Holy fuck they’re gone. 

And I was gone too. 

Wasn’t I? 

Where the fuck even am I? 

I looked around. It was at this point I realized that I was falling through darkness. This was… weird. Like I was just falling through an endless abyss. This sucked ass. Ugh. 

I needed a way out of here. There’s gotta be a way to do it. A way to save everybody. What was happening? Um… Elrich killed Raven. Universe was dying. Thing exploded. Then everything died and got erased and… basically everything exploded. 

Okay. Hm. 

There had to be a way to get out of here. I could use my reality powers maybe? I held out my hand. 

Nothing happened. 

Okay. 

Well that fucking sucks. 

Well whatever. I’ll figure out a way to get out of here. If not, I’ll just wait until I stop falling down this endless abyss. Surely it’s gotta end at some point, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i never said rip veronica so i’m not gonna say unrip veronica sorry for people hoping for it but i gotta keep the style consistent


	142. veronica falls through the abyss for four months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: summer is almost over! School! Monday! Starting! Ahhhhhhhh

Godddd this suuuuuuuucks

Endless abysses really do go on for, like…. Forever? Jesus fuck. This was bullshit. Like, I’m not even sure how long I was falling for. Last time I was keeping count it was about… four months, I think? But then I had to stop keeping count in my head in order to do this first person narration so that just really threw me off my game. Who knows how long it’s been now? 

Was this my life now? Was I just gonna keep falling through the abyss forever? Because if so give me the fucking static again GOD i just feel so full of sadness, like i’m just decaying 

It just kept going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and then I popped somewhere else and thudded my ass against hard wood. 

“OW!” I yelled, though in my head I was secretly thrilled to just be feeling something again. I looked to see where we were. It was some kinda dock? With a weirdly purple colored river and a deep hazy red sky. This was… spooky. And ominous. 

There was a small thing, almost like a rowboat, parked in front of me. In it was a small horned and winged figure wearing a bright blue raincoat. “Oi!” the man said. “Sorry for the wait there, bruv. I hope your stay in the waiting room was a pleasant one!” 

“Um. Pardon? I mean. It’s fine. I mean. Where the fuck am I?” 

“Oh! This is the Sea of the Woeful! My name is Alabaster. Are you ready to take your trip?” 

I stepped back for a second. “The woeful? Uhhh trip?” I shook my head. “Look, I have some questions. Is this a universe of some kind that didn’t get erased? And if so how?” 

“Erased?” Alabaster laughed. “What are you talking about? Of course you can’t erase this place!” 

“But every other universe got erased??? As far as I know?” 

Alabaster gave an even heartier laugh. “Ohhh, dearie, that’s a good one. But two things: one, pretty sure none of the living universes have gotten erased. If so, we would’ve found out by now. Two, even if all the universes were getting erased, you can’t erase this because this is an afterlife universe!” 

My stomach dropped. “An afterlife universe?? No no no. I can’t be here. I’m not supposed to be here! Where does this even go anyway??” 

“Why, if you go down this river you get sent right to Hell!” 

I paused. “Okay so maybe I am supposed to be here. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not dead and that I saw the universes all collapse and die!” 

Alabaster rolled his eyes. “Ma’am, that’s silly. If all the universes died then we would’ve seen a surge of souls coming here. Which we didn’t. It’s been normal traffic, really.” 

“That’s….” I trailed off. “That’s…. Wait. Have any of my friends’ souls ended up here?” 

“How should I know that? I don’t know who your friends are.” 

I huffed. There’s on way that they could be dead. Absolutely not. There had to be some way to fix this. “Well can you tell me if anyone notable came through here? Serinepth Sinderman? Winsler Wallabee? Integrity Idleberry or Mara Artisan or Mira Marchand?” 

Alabaster pulled out a clipboard from… somewhere and a pair of reading glasses and placed them on his face. “Hm. Nope. Don’t recognize any of their names. Last name here on the roster is someone named Raven Raethran. She was a nice girl. Kinda lame though.” 

“Yeah I know her…” I huffed. “This is… this is all wrong….” 

Alabaster continued looking at the list. He squinted his eyes. “What did you say your name was?” 

“I didn’t say it.” I paused. “Veronica Sonya Elm Rune.” 

“Hm, interesting,” Alabaster licked the tips of his fingers and turned the page, his eyes skimming back and forth. “Yeah I don’t see your name here in any of the rounds I’m supposed to do later.” He placed his glasses off of his head and back in his pocket… somewhere. “Well maybe you’re right! Maybe you aren’t dead!” 

“Thank fuck you finally believe me.” I sat down on the dock. My legs were tired from standing already. “So where do we go now?” 

“Well, like I said, it’s a firm  _ maybe  _ in that regard. I’ll have to take you to the bookkeeper and then you’ll be able to know if you if you should be here or not.” 

“Can the Bookkeeper help sort out this multiverse destruction business??” 

Alabaster chuckled. “Ah, no. That’s a different department. Whole other afterlife universe, really.” 

My ears stuck up in attention. A plan was forming. “If I was to go to that department, what would it look like? What would it be?” 

“Oh!” Alabaster perked up. “Well that would be the Confluence of Potentiality. Strange place. Very space-y. I’ve personally never been but co-workers have described it to me. Led by some dude there, The Shepherd of Potentiality. Intense. Unmortal. They have a lot of eyes. It’s very strange.” 

I hoped this would work… I channelled the reality emerald into my stomach and thought about the words he was saying and hoping that I could still generate a portal even here, in the afterlife. Sure enough, a blue bit of energy came out of my hand and opened up a portal. I could see space on the other side. 

“Ummm, what is that?” Alabaster said, putting his glasses back on to look at it clearly. 

I smiled at him. “Well, if all goes according to plan, it’s a portal to the Confluence of Potentiality.” 

“Hey!!” Alabaster yelled. “You can’t do that! That’s cheating! Breaking afterlife law is the equivalent of 1000 human sins! This is very not go-” 

I didn’t get to hear him finish as I ran and jumped through the portal and did a quick little roll as I jumped through. I emerged on the other side. I looked around. Yep. This was space alright. And I was standing on it. There was also this strange vibrational force around my body. Fucking weird. But whatever. Now just to find that multi eyed dude… 

“Oh dearie, I was wondering when you’d make it.” 

That voice. I turned around to see the face of a blue skinned woods witch, standing in front of her purple coned house. 

Seltie smiled and handed me a baked treat. “You’re just in time. Cookie?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh shit leave a review if you’re excited Seltie is back!


	143. cinnamon dearie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i was rereading some of book 1 just to get myself back in the swing of things and wow… it’s amazing how much things have changed

“WHAT?” I said before looking at the cookie I was offered. Reluctantly I took it. “Um, thanks. What’re you doing here?” 

Seltie stuffed her baking sheet away into her house. I could see what looked like several invisible strings were tied to it. “What do you mean, dear? This is my office.” 

“Um.” I took a bite of the cookie. It tasted… okay? Kinda like cinnamon deer. “But what about the Shepherd of Potentiality?” 

“You’re looking at her.” Seltie smiled. 

I thought about it for a moment. “Nah. Bullshit. You don;t match the description. You have only two eyes… I think.” 

She chuckled. “Oh, you must be thinking of the old Shepherd. They fell.” 

“They… fell?” 

“Indeed. They fell.” 

“But… I was told they were unmortal.” 

“Unmortal doesn’t mean you can’t die. You and I might be considered unmortal under normal circumstances, but if faced by someone powerful enough, well, even you could still die for good, Veronica.” 

That was terrifying to think about. “And you’re powerful enough to be considered unmortal?” 

“I am now.” Seltie sat down on a chair she pulled out from her house. “And will be more so soon.” 

“I….” I tried to find a place to sit down. There wasn’t one. “So. This is the…” 

“The Confluence of Potentiality, yes. It’s a place that exists outside of time. Where you can see all that is, all that was, all that would never be.” 

“Oh. Oh fuck. That’s… heavy. “But then the full implications of it hit me. “Wait. That means you saw…” 

“Everything, yes. My condolences for your losses. It must’ve been so hard, to be aware of everyone and everything dying.” 

“I…” I could feel myself choke up a bit. “It was… very hard…” 

“Especially since it was partially your fault.” 

I wanted to say something to argue against that but couldn’t. 

Seltie sighed. “Indeed, tragic. If only there was some way you could… reverse time and go back…” 

That caught my attention. “Why did you say it like that?” 

“Like what?” She was playing coy. 

“I know that tone of voice. That’s the tone of voice when you want something. I’ve been through this twice before.” A thought occurred to me. “Everyone’s souls. When they died. What did you do to them?” 

“Ah, good question!” Seltie smiled and raised her hand and balls of red vapor appeared to circle her hand. “These are just a few of the ones I got recently. Delnys, Mara, Train Mira, and SWIM. All from your timeline.” 

“My… timeline?” 

“Why, yes! You do understand there are multiple timelines, correct? Some timelines where you die and some where you live. And let’s say you, oh I don’t know, can be in a place where time isn’t a thing, where you can see and experience all timelines. And you have a deal with these people where you get their souls if they die. Why then, you might be able to get someone’s souls multiple times, all from one version of them in one universe.” 

I felt my heart drop. “This… this was a scheme. You did this for yourself.” 

“Smart one, aren’t you, Veronica?” She smiled once more. I wanted to punch her but my body was still vibrating and moving in semi-slow motion. 

“You wanted this to happen. Destroy every universe, everything, and you get all the souls.” . 

“Wow amazing. Incredible. Your mother would be very proud of you if you actually had a mother.” 

“Why do you even want all their souls anyway? What do you even do with it?” 

“Ah, I see someone has never been to the Spire.” Seltie waved her hands and the vapors of red condensed and hardened down into a single crystal. She placed it directly into the wall of her cone house, which seemed to absorb it. “Soular energy. Very powerful. You’d be surprised by the things you can do with it.” 

“I… what the fuck.” It was hard to even think of words. “So you planned all this out deliberately? Made sure all the pieces fell into place exactly for this to happen?” 

Seltie laughed again. “No no. Not exactly. I mean, I hoped it would happen this way, but I would’ve been happy any way it went down, so long as everything was erased.” She plucked on the strings connected to the house and as she did, screens appeared in the air, showing various points in time. One an office that looked familiar, one the castle of Patter, the other the battleground, and various other moments. “Part of coming up with plans isn’t coming up with one ingenious plot that will be performed to a T, but rather just pushing things along the right way in order to hopefully get the results you want, whether that’s giving a tiefling girl a letter, reversing time to make sure that a certain principal can tell a certain someone about the chaos emeralds, slowing down time to pressure a girl in the sewers into madness, bringing over a pirate Artis deliberately to cause chaos, or even just finding the one timeline where everyone just so happens to forget about Elrich’s name reading powers.” 

“I… it’s been you. The whole time. Time. All that shit. It’s been you.” 

Seltie giggled. “Guilty as charged.” 

“How did you even get the ability of time anyway? Like… what the fuck??” 

Seltie crossed her legs. “Do you know what happens when you kill a Shepherd of Potentiality?” My mouth dropped. Seltie held up the baking sheet again. “Cookie?” 

“No! No I don’t want this fucking cookie!” I threw the cookie I was already eating onto the ground. “All this bad shit that happened was your fault!” 

“Were you not listening? Everything that you and your friends did? That was all you. You can’t blame me just for changing up the stakes a bit.” 

“Yes I can!” I tossed the baking sheet over. Tears were filling my eyes. I fell to my knees. “You killed everyone. Everything. Just for yourself. And now they’re dead and gone forever and it’s all your fault.” 

Her smile faded for a moment but then she regrouped herself. “You’re wrong. It doesn’t have to be forever.” 

I looked up at her. “What are you implying?” 

She stood up off of her stood, licked her finger, and pressed it against my forehead. “Ah. Very good. I was right. You do have one now.” 

“I… what?” Then it hit me. “No. No no no no.” 

“Very powerful too. Good. Just what i was hoping for.” She grinned, exposing her shiny white multicolored teeth. 

“I’m not doing it. No way.” 

“You want to bring them back? Go back? Undo everything? I can make that possible. It’s just one. Little. Deal.” 

“I….” I thought about it. This sucked. This really fucking sucked. If Seltie was right, and Seltie was powerful enough to kill me, then… she gets it. Me. Forever. And… “My soul. You said it’s powerful. Because…” 

“Because, Veronica, by this point of everything, you’re more than human. You have all that power inside of you.” She grinned once more. “I can’t wait to get it.” 

I stood up, looking at her defiantly. “I haven’t made the deal yet.”

She chuckled. “Oh but you will.” 

“No I won’t.” I stood up, looking at her defiantly. “I haven’t made the deal yet.”

She chuckled. “Oh but you will.” 

“No I won’t.” I stood up, looking at her defiantly. “I haven’t made the deal yet.”

She chuckled. “Oh but you will.” 

“No I won't.” I stood up, looking at her defiantly. “I… wait. What the fuck?” 

“Do you see the problem yet, dearie?” Seltie placed her hands on my shoulder. “Either you stay here. With me. Forever. Or you move onto Hell and everyone stays dead and in my control. Or… you just make one small deal.” 

I sighed. “You’re the only one who can kill me though, yeah? Or at least only things as strong as you? So how will I know that you won’t just kill me the second I go back and fix everything?” 

“You don’t.” She moved her hand over her heart. “But trust me, I’m not that cruel. I’ll give you time before I come to collect.” 

I huffed. “Okay. Fine. Whatever. I’ll accept your deal.” 

Seltie began walking over to the strings where the screens were. “Very good.” 

I felt a burning sensation from my wrist. I looked down. Sure enough, there was an S branded there. This fucking bitch. 

“So,” Seltie turned back around to me. “Where do you want to go back, exactly?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re glad Veronica took the deal!


	144. infinite losers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: okay. School. You can do this mason. You can do this. Just gotta choose a cool mask.

Ugh wtf. This was annoying. Like wtf raven. 

First i go to the battle to help but then Elrich did… something, not sure what. THen I wake up on the docks of waiful and then get told that I’m dead and that I’m on my way to Hell? Which like i know it’s every sith goths dream to finally explore hell but geez i didn’t want to do this while dead. 

I looked around. Yep this was hell alright. Lotta fire and brimstone and red and stuff but weirdly enough no demons in the sky. Just a bunch of people standing around, also looking like me, very confused. 

This suuuuuucks. 

I don’t belong here do I? Not in this place for infinite losers, no. I deserve better… don’t i? 

Or maybe I should be here. I don’t know… ugh. 

I kept looking around for something at the very least interesting to do. Like at least if there was a torture pit or something that could be moderately fun to look at in a “huh i wonder what torture methods hell is using nowadays way and how do you harm a dead person” but there wasn’t much of that either. The only thing I could really see was something called a “Campus Bookstore” so I was like well might as well explore that. 

I walked into the campus bookstore and looked around. There was a bunch of people in lie to buy stuff and check out but there wasn’t an attendant there or a cashier. I looked at the shelves to see what they had. I can read every language so i didn’t have to worry about what these books were but tbh right now i didn’t want to read books because reading was boring. Like why invest time reading 200,000 words of some bullshit when you can find better things to do? 

I did look at the candy shelf and was like “hell yeah candy” but then as i looked at the package of blood gummies (or as we call them, blummies) I noticed the price was $1,000 CAD and was like damn maybe that’s expensive i don’t know when i felt a tap on my shoulder and my spine jumped. 

“AH! I swear I was gonna pay for it!” I screamed, turning around, expecting to see some hell monster or someone to torture me or worse make me pay for stuff. Insteaed I saw a familiar face. 

“Oh my words,” he said in his posh British accent. “It’s you.” 

It was him. It was… Elrich. But not the one that killed me. The other one. I think. 

“Wait, are you.. Are you my Elrich?” I asked him. 

“Your father? Yes, Raven,” Elrich held out his hand in a hug. “When you die, you go to the afterlife of the original universe you’re from.” 

“So you’re… Papa Elrich!!” I enthusiastically returned his hug. “Wait. Why are you in hell? Are you a genocidal zombie too?” 

He looked confused. “No? I’m just in hell because of all the raucous and passionate premarital sex I had.” 

“Ohhhhhhhhh.” I broke away from his hug. “I guess that makes sense.” 

He put his hand under my chin. “But you, Raven. Why’re you here?” 

“I, um….” I gulped. “Do you wanna… do you wanna take a walk?” 

Papa Elrich looked at me in the eyes, a look of understanding on his face. “Okay. Let’s do that.” 

We walked outside the bookstore, side by side. I crossed my arms. I didn’t want to look him in the face. “Is my sister here too?” 

He shook his head. “Delnys? No. She was almost put here for trespassing in the Restricted Section but they decided that her contributions to the Wild Cliff Wiki were so beneficial to society and life as a whole that she was sent to Heaven.” 

“Oh good. That’s good. I guess. I think… I’d sure love to see her. I have a Delnys but… she’s different. A lot meaner. Not the same.” 

“Another universe’s?” 

I huffed. “Yeah.” 

“I see…” He paused for a moment. “Raven, what happened? There’s something different about you?” 

“Is it… that I’m older now and cooler looking?” 

“No, i mean. I expected that.” He sighed. “But when I hear your name, I don’t hear Raven Raethran anymore. I hear Raven Willow Blood Charm.” 

“Oh….” I twiddled my fingers. “What does that mean…?” 

He found a rock to sit down on and dusted it off. “It means you should tell me what you’ve been up to and how you ended up here.” 

I found a damp cardboard box and sat on it. “Um. Well, I guess I died… and somehow I ended up in Hell.” 

“I see. Somehow. How did you die?” 

“Ah, um… alt universe zombie version of you… killed me.” 

“Alt universe version of me?” 

“Yes.” 

“And he was a zombie?” 

“Yeah….” 

“And why did he kill you?” 

“Um. To destroy the world, I think… and also for revenge.” 

He raised a brow. “Revenge? For what?” I paused and was silent for a few moments. Dad Elrich scooted his rock over to me and put his hand on my knee. “Raven. Talk to me. Why are you here? What did you do?” 

“I, um… I guess a life update. The clone that killed you? My clone. Yeah we tried to stop her and long story short our universe is gone now… She’s good now, though, I guess. I think. She goes by the name Veronica…” 

“Lovely name.” 

“Thanks I came up with it.” I huffed. 

“Any reason why you’re dodging my question, Raven?” 

I stood up. “It’s just… I’ve been under a lot of stress! And and and I did a lot of bad things that I thought made sense at the time, like killing the alt universe version of you or Murundeen or Severepth or anything about Finals and I thought it would all be worth it but now I’m coming to the realization that maybe it’s not and maybe I’m just a shitty person and a bad person and a dumb person and maybe all the universes died because it’s my fault.” 

He coughed. “Ahem. Well. That’s certainly… a lot to take in. So I hear you did some killing.” 

“Yeah, um…. Zombie Elrich. I guess he wouldn’t have happened without me… and I killed my sith school friend too… and oh gosh I erased a whole universe and what I did to everyone and goddddddd” I crossed my arms. “I deserve to be in Hell.” 

Elrich was silent. 

I looked up at him. “I’m not hearing you say anything like  _ no you don’t _ .” 

“Well that’s because if what you said is true, then maybe you do.” He stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Raven, do you want to know the problem with Hell?” 

“... that it’s boring and there’s not much to do?” 

“No. It’s that you’re judged by the worst of your actions and placed in an area where nothing else you do matters. Your clone. She’s good now, right?” 

“Yeah?” 

“And she murdered and destroyed a universe too?” 

“... yeah.” 

“Well I don’t see her here now, do I?” 

I was gonna comment that it’s probably because she can’t die or is on some god shit but I didn’t wanna ruin the vibe of whatever he was going for so I was just like “I mean, yeah, good point.” 

“People can improve and change, Raven. I can tell you’ve made a lot of mistakes in your past. And I can tell that you regret them. And I can tell that you want to make things better. Perhaps in a better world, where you could go back, you could’ve set things right. I believe in you.” 

“You do??” I perked up but then immediately slouched over. “But what’s the point? I’ve hurt so many of my friends now. None of them wanna hang out with me or be around me or have anything to do with me.” 

Dad Elrich sighed and put his arm around me. “Raven, it doesn’t matter if your friends like you or not. If something is the right thing to do, if there’s a way you can do good in the world, ACTUAL good, then don’t hesitate to do that. And if you’re forgiven, well, who can say. But at least you tried to help the world a little bit.” Elrich smiled. “It’s like a friend of mine used to say.  _ There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing. _ ” 

“I see…” I returned his hug and held him tightly. I didn’t know how much I missed… this. I broke away from the hug. “Well that was a good speech but it doesn’t matter though because I’m stuck here in hell.” 

Papa Elrich sat down on his rock. “Hm, yes. That does seem to be a problem.” 

I moved my damp cardboard box next to him. “Hey. It’s okay. We can just… enjoy spending time here. Maybe I can finally spend some nice quality time with my dad.” 

Dad Elrich smiled. “I’d like that.” 

“Yeah! Okay, so I think that we can maybe find a bored game to play? Like pictionary or D&D.” 

“Oh you don’t wanna play D&D, the only version of it they have down here is 4th edition.” 

“Oh geez, well, at least we can play jenga or something? Or maybe never have I ever? Though I feel like i would lose just based on what i know abou-” I didn’t get to finish because suddenly I was pulled back by some grand force. Before I knew it I was soaring through the sky, faster than I could see what was happening, and my mind started to become… fuzzy. 

What… what was I just doing? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip dad elrich he was already dead but like still rip to him


	145. let’s go backwards to destroy the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Got my new school ID. it says Mason on it!!

“Veronica, are you really going to keep me waiting? You’ve been pacing back and forth for… well, who knows how long here.” Seltie rolled her eyes. 

“Shh!” I shushed Seltie. “This is a big decision. I need to figure out exactly where I want to go back. I only get one chance at this.” 

Seltie smiled. “Well, wouldn’t the beginning make the most sense?” 

I gulped. “Yeah. I know.” 

“You could undo  _ everything _ .” 

“... .I could.” 

“So why don’t you? I could drop you back to Wild Cliff. Your universe. You could set everything right that went wrong.” 

“... and then I die. Or I erase myself from existence so that I’m never made.” 

She shrugged. “Whatever you do, it’s a win for me.” 

That was something to keep in mind. Whatever way I was gonna do this, I needed to make sure it was a way that Seltie couldn’t win. There was no way that i was going to let that happen… I just… wasn’t sure how. 

I continued pacing back and forth. Come on, Veronica. Use that sexy brain of yours for once. Think think think. “Seltie, can I ask a question?” 

“Of course, dearie. What do you wish to ask?” 

“That explosion. When Raven died. What was that?” 

“Ah, yes. Very good question. You see, Elrich had compiled a filing cabinet full of various cosmic components. God objects, as he stupidly calls them. When Raven died and the fabric of that universe started being destroyed, it destroyed them too, and the impact of such an event caused everything to be destroyed.” 

“I see….” I scratched my chin. A plan was beginning to form.I had to look at my surroundings, make sure I remembered them well and had them ingrained in my memory. “Okay, Seltie. I know where I need you to take me.” 

“AH good, so back to the beginning. Start from page 1?” She grinned and held up her hand to snap it. 

“Nope. Take me right before the moment Raven died.” 

She stopped. Paused for a second. Looked at me. “Pardon?” 

“You heard me.” I grinned. “Take me back right then.” 

She smiled. “You’ll be cutting it close then, won’t you? What if you fail to stop him again? You’ll end up back here without another soul to trade.” 

I shrugged. “Maybe we will. But I’ll take the chance. Send me back.” 

She groaned. 

“I just made the deal. You’re going to honor what I want, right? Or is this one of those genie bullshit things?” 

“No no. I’m a woman of honor and a woman of my word.” She grimmaced and looked… very annoyed and surprised. “Fine. Okay. But don’t come back here yelling to me about how it didn’t work.” 

I just grinned. “Don’t worry.” 

She huffed in passive aggressive frustration. “Alright. So you’ll find yourself back in your original body at that moment in time. Because of our deal, I’ll make sure you don’t forget any of what transpired here. How does that sound?” 

I nodded. “Sounds good to me.” 

“Alright.” Seltie held up her fingers again. “Here we go.” 

She snapped. 

And then suddenly it was like some cosmic force was pulling me, blowing me away and pulling me through the cosmos and my head became fuzzy for a moment and before I knew it I was back in the desert and my body felt different. I looked down at my hands. I was disguised as Delnys. 

Okay. Okay okay okay. 

I looked forward. Zombie Elrich was there, looking gross as fuck as always, eyes closed. 

Alright I know what to do. 

I held out my hand in pure blue energy and I could tell Elrich knew what was coming because he opened his eyes and quickly turned to use his reality powers but it was too late. I locked his body in place, bending it and twisting it into various proportions like a Jenga I think idk what Jenga is. 

“DELNYS!” I yelled. “He’s locked in place! Start it now and follow me!” 

I opened up a blue portal underneath Elrich and suddenly he came crashing down through it. I hopped in after him and so did Delnys and we landed right in the manor of Elrich’s house. The fall sort of ruined the reality magic locking him in place for a bit but then I tightened my grip on him realitily and he groaned as he couldn’t move. 

Delnys started the spell and soon Elrich was engrossed in black magic, surrounding his body. He screamed and yelled in pain and as he did I just made sure That i didn’t lose my focus like last time of give him a chance to fight back. 

“You’ll… regret… this….” he said through choked breaths. “We could’ve…. Made… a better… world…” 

“That’s what I’m doing asswipe,” I told him as I strengthened the reality grip on him. After a few minutes the black magic aura surrounding him dissipated. Elrich gasped heavily and then rapidly, as if his lungs were feeling air for the first time. And I saw him look… scared. 

He turned his wide eyes to Delnys. “I know I’m not in a position to ask for this, dear, but… can you do me a favor? Can you hold my hand? Please. I don’t… I don’t wanna die alone again.” 

Delnys walked up to him and wrapped her hand in his. 

“Brain… clearing up…” Elrich said. “I’m… I’m s-” 

And then he took a last gasp. And he died. 

I looked over at Delnys. Tears were streaming down her eyes. Poor girl. I wanted to give her a moment but I knew we didn’t have time. I opened up a blue portal back to the traincrash. “C’mon,” I told her. “We have to go back.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip elrich but the train universe one this time and also for real because third time's the charm


	146. prelude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i found a cool mask that has trans colors and bi colors on it so i went ahead and ordered it because i’m those things

We stepped through to see SWIM and Raven and Mara on the other side, looking at each other confused. I could hear Raven under her breath saying, “Um… are we supposed to help still?” 

I walked through, ahead of Delnys. I needed to stay focused. I needed to keep myself on my goal. But first… 

I walked over to Mira, who had finally noticed that I was walking towards her. She started to say something, like a question or something, but before she could finish, I took her in my arms and wrapped her in a big hug. 

“Oh! Hi!” She said, returning the hug. I loosened it a bit and looked at her and she looked at me and our eyes locked and I just… kissed her. 

I let the kiss go and she looked at me, a bit shocked but smiling. “Um. Okay. That was… unexpected.” 

“Yeah. Sorry. Um. I hope that was okay.” 

She smiled. “It was perfect.” 

I let her go from my arms and walked closer to the train wreckage. I looked at the filing cabinet there and snapped my fingers and suddenly the cabinet glew blue and then was opened. 

“Um, hey…” Mara walked over to me. “That’s that thing I carried. It’s dangerous. Do you know what’s in it? Like all those god object things” 

“Yep.” I said, opening up, looking through it. Some emeralds, some dice, a few other weird shapes, four orbs, lots of stuff here. “I need all of them.” 

“Oh no…” Raven said under her breath. “Now that Elirch is gone, she’s gonna do it again.” 

“No, dipshit.” I rolled my eyes. “I need them to go kill someone.” 

“I mean that does sound like you…” Integrity mumbled. 

The girl, Mara, looked at me strangely as I rummaged through the cabinet. I thought for a second she was gonna tell me off and to stop doing it but instead she just said, “Oh. You have one too.” 

“Hm?” I turned to look at her. 

She held up her hand to show the S branded on her wrist. “You met her too. You made a deal with her.” 

“You did??” Mira came over to me, worry in her voice. “What?? When??” 

“I… this is complicated to explain.” I sighed. “I saw everyone here die. Raven was killed. Everything was erased. Seltie… Seltie has become the Shepherd of Potentiality. She’s been doing this the whole time. Manipulating events, playing with time, to cause chaos and then relying on us to sell souls to her to fix it.” 

“Holy shit…” Serinepth said under her breath. “That explains it…” 

“So you gave her your soul??” Mira yelled. “But you just said how dangerous it was!” 

“Yeah. That’s why I’m gonna go kill her.” I smiled and rummaged through the filing cabinet more. As I did, I could feel a bunch of them dissolve and their energies and aura rush into my body all at once. I stammered back. It took a while to get my composure but eventually I stood up again. I felt… holy shit. This was how I felt way back then. 

I had them all back. All the chaos emerald powers. They were fully recharged. I looked down to see a rainbow glow emitting from my stomach. 

I smiled and waved my hand to open a portal. “Alright, now with that done, if you excuse me, I’ve got a woods witch to go kill.” 

“Wait!” Mira yelled, grabbing my arm. “Aren’t we coming with you?” 

“Yeah we can fight too!” Winsler said. “We’ll love to help!” 

“Yeah! I’ll do what i can!” Mara added. 

I turned to her. “Okay first of all, what are you, 12? Second of all, I can’t risk any of you going there. Seltie is powerful, she’s got the power of time AND all of your souls several times over. She might even be more powerful than me. I can’t… I can’t put you through that risk…”

“I mean… I guess I understand…” Mira looked down. “Promise you’ll be okay?” 

I smiled at her. “Promise.” 

There was a moment of silence before Raven spoke up. “Wait! Let me come with you!” 

“Oh fucking hell!” I rolled my eyes. “Did you not just hear what I said? How you died last time? Absolutely not!” 

She walked up to me and placed my hands in her. “Okay, but Veronica. We’ll be in another universe place so we won’t have to worry about things getting erased if I die. Plus I’m just as strong as you are, if not stronger. I have several lightsabers and a knowledge of the force and sith powers. I think…. I think if you and I team up together we can do this.” 

“No, Blood Charm.” 

“But….” She sighed. “There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing.” 

I looked at her in her stupid dumb red eyes. There was a look of… genuineness to them. I couldn’t keep up my resolve. Not like that. “Fine. But if you die again, I swear to god.” 

“FUCK YEAH!” Raven jumped up with joy and did a force flip. This fucking dweeb. I rolled my eyes and opened the portal up. 

I turned to everyone. “Alright, y’all, we’ll be back, okay?” 

“You better be!” Mira said. 

“And try not to die or make any more bad deals!” Winsler yelled. 

“Don’t worry, I Haven’t made a deal yet at all!” Raven yelled back, smiling. 

I didn’t have time to focus on her though. I needed to keep my mind on the real thing here. I walked through, energy flowing through my body, fullying prepared to take this bitch down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: unrip mira unrip winsler unrip mara unrip serinepth unrip delnys unrip train mira unrip integrity unrip everything


	147. time to fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: okay. First day of school. Okay okay okay. I can do this.

We ended up on the other side of the portal back in the weird space ass dimension. It was still weird to be back here. Like looking down, I noticed I just wasn’t standing on anything. Just… space. It was kinda cool tbh but not like I had time to appreciate it. 

I looked over to Raven to make sure she was ready or at the very least okay. She had her iPhone out. She was texting. 

“Really?” I groaned. 

“What??” she said, not looking away from her screen.

“You’re really texting? Right now?” 

“It’s important!” 

“Put it away!” I yelled. “We gotta stay focused!” 

She huffed. “Fiiiine. Whatever. I’m done anyway.” She rolled her eyes and then I heard the send sound. She placed the phone in her corset in between her boobs and then got her lightsaber out. “Okay so what’s the gameplan here?” 

“That’s a good question…” I said. 

“Yes, very good question,” we heard a familiar voice say. Seltie suddenly materialized in front of us, about six feet away. “Sneaky sneaky. You were hoping to catch me while I’m a bit weakened by the time travel. If only I hadn’t expected th-” 

She didn’t get to finish it because while she was talking I made my eyes glowed and then raised my hand and suddenly a giant T-posing figure of me raised up from the ground and engulfed Seltie in her hands. Suddenly Seltie was up in the hand cage, several hundred feet in the air. 

I turned to Raven. “Can you fly?” 

“Um…. no? Can you?” 

“I haven’t done it before, but uhhh let’s see.” I looked down at the rainbow glow emerging from my midsection and felt power come through me. Suddenly I was levitating off the ground and it felt really weird because i’ve never flown anywhere without being exploded first. I flew my way up to the fists of Giantonica and held out my hand and tossed a shit ton of blasts inside it. 

The smoke went BOOM and then dissolved. I squinted a perfectly made up eye to see if I could see if the witch was dead yet and instead I found myself hit with a sharp laser in the shoulder which caused me to fall to the ground hard and brutally. 

Thankfully I didn’t land on the ground because Raven was able to catch me in her arms. “Shit! You doing okay?” 

“I just got lasered through the fucking shoulder. No.” 

“Fuck…. I’m sorry…” She set me down gentally. 

There was a surge of energy coming from inside the hands as Giantonica flinched and retracted her hands up to her mouth to blow on them and cool them off. This caused fuckin Seltie to fall down quicker and quicker and land on her feet, causing a crater in space (... somehow) and blowing us back a bit with the sheer wind from it all. “Wow, dearie. That wasn’t very nice now, was it?” 

“Fuck no it wasn’t!” Raven yelled and, both lightsabers in hand, arms pointed behind her, ran forward at Seltie. However, Seltie simply raised her hand and snapped and suddenly Raven was walking in reverse, back to where she was. “Fuck no it wasn’t!” she yelled again. “Wait… what?” 

“Hehe” Seltie snickered to herself but then groaned. She twisted over, holding her stomach in pain. Were… were we exhausting her? Was all this time travel shit getting to her? I could only hope. I began to swing my hand, blue energy emitting from it, hoping I could lock her in place but then… something happened. I… started moving super super slowly. Like really fucking slowly. Really really obnoxiously slowly. Seltie just smiled, though it was forced. Even with this, I could tell she was fighting through pain. 

“Let’s just slow things down here a bit, shall we?” She walked away, back over to her house and I could see her breathe heavily with every step she took. Despite her no longer looking at me, I found I couldn’t move any faster. She opened the door to her cone and bent into it, rummaging around. I could Raven out of the corner of my eye. She went to go hold out her hand to use the force but she was moving just as slowly too. 

Seltie continued to rummage through it all some more, humming some tune to herself. “Gosh, I do need a break, don’t I? Even gods can get tired sometimes. Isn’t that right, Veronica?” She turned to me and grinned with her eyes closed. She turned back around and started looking through her house again. “Of course, I don’t want to keep you there forever. I mean, I do. I could. But gosh would that take more energy than I care to admit. I need something that’ll keep you occupied for a while. And- AH, here we go - I found just the things.” 

She pulled out what looked like a purple fabric bag. It was… small. And yet she reached her hand in it far more than she should have been able to. And she pulled out what looked like several tiny red crystals. “Ah, that’s not enough. I should have more than that.” She flipped the bag upside down and out of it spilled hundreds, if not thousands, of crystals. How the fuck did they all fit in there? Is that the Veronica Sonya Elm Rune of bags?? 

“Okaaayyyy” i said , slowed down. “So you’ve got your fuckin spirit crystals. Am I supposed to be scared?” 

Seltie just laughed. “Oh dearie. These aren’t spirit crystals. They’re soul crystals. And you can do such great things with them.” She waved her hands around and suddenly the crystals all glowed red and vibrated violently. As they shook, they expanded and grew and mutated into something… not unlike a crystal? But if a crystal was 7 foot tall and red and had arms and legs and something resembling a head but with no facial features except a mouth that just screamed. Several thousand tall crystal beings. Screaming in pain at the feeling of being turned into… whatever these things were. 

In order to make room for all of them, the space between us and Seltie grew by… a lot. It was like several dozens football fields in length, and if you don’t know the length of a football field, it’s like 100 yards and if you don’t know what a yard is then it’s kinda like a meter stick in length and if you don’t know what a meter is then idk what to tell you buddy except that we were now really really far away from Seltie. 

Despite this, I could hear her voice as clear as day. “Well, I’m gonna sit down for a while. I hope you two have fun!” 

And with that, time got unslowed for us. We could move at normal speed. Good. Because we were gonna kick her ass. 

But first, the thousands of cyrstal soldiers turned to us, their mouths opened, screaming. They made their move. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: oooh leave a review if you’re excited for the start of the fight!


	148. crystal chronicles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m postin this chapter from the bathroom of school during lunch time because i’m too afraid to sit at the table with everyone else, like what if i get sick or what if they make fun of me idk what to do

I turned to look at Raven. She looked… worried, not gonna lie. I can’t say I blame her. Poor girl was just a Sith, really. Strong as hell but… I’m not sure if she was used to facing something like this. Despite all that, I could tell she was putting on her best brave face. 

She turned to me. “Why’re you looking at me like that? The details of my face aren't important, the fighting is!” 

“Right! Of course! Sorry! Just trying to narrate!” I straightened up. Okay, Veronica. You can do this. There’s only a few… thousand. That would be a lot for a normal person. Luckily for you, you aren’t a normal person. 

I snapped my fingers and surrounded a few dozens of them with blue light and tried my best to make them disappear. 

It uh… kinda worked?? 

They screamed out in harsh horrifying pain as red energy flew up into the sky and released and dispersed into the air. Was that… was that like a weird ass soul thing? Are they okay?? Did I just kill a bunch of souls?? I… shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about it. 

Okay so that took out a few dozens of them but that still left a few other thousands, currently coming my way. The crystal souldiers or whatever the fuck we were calling them ran towards me, screaming. Under normal circumstances I would be scared but honestly this wasn’t even the most fucked up thing I’ve seen today. 

“Uhhh Veronica?” Raven turned to me. “Can you do that with all the rest of them?” 

“I can try but it’s super fucking hard,” I groaned. “Wait you have a reality emerald, y’know. You can do it too.” 

“Oh… right!” She snapped her fingers and one of them was surrounded in blue light and then disappeared. The rest were still coming at us. “Ah fucking hell what the shit.” 

“Goddamn it, Blood Charm.” I huffed and held out my hand to hopefully snap more away but it was no good. They were coming in too fast. I had to make sure that first thing’s first, i put up a protective rainbow force field bubble over us. 

The crystal beings kept clawing and trying to break through. Raven looked scared as shit. “Okay how many do you think we can take out from behind here?” 

“Uhhhh.” It was hard trying to figure out what this body was capable of. Theoretically it could do, well, anything. But also what the fuck does that mean?? Like just keeping this thing up was hard as hell because hey, uh, crystal souldiers were fucking strong as hell. If we wanted to do this, we needed to keep things focused and efficient. ANd that meant… “We shouldn’t worry so much about killing these things. We need to worry about getting to Seltie.” 

Raven rolled her eyes. “Okay but there’s like a fuck bunch of things keeping us from her.” 

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “That’s why we get creative, dipshit. Can you still do force lightning?” 

“Yes?” 

“And can you keep yourself stable if we start moving?” 

“Yes? What is this abo- ohhhhhhhh wait I get you.” 

“Genuinely thought it was gonna take you a few more moments to figure that out, not gonna lie.” I held my hands in front of me. “Are you ready?” 

She held her hands out by her side. “Ready.” 

WIth that, she shot forcelighting out, striking the edge of the rainbow forcefield, surrounding the entirety of the orb we were in. With as much effort as I could make, I started pushing the forcefield forward, rolling it along the ground, through the crowd of souldiers. Whenever they would make contact with the ball, they would either get trampled katamari style or they would get blasted and fly through the air. We were making a pretty good path for ourselves. Damn, who knew an orb could be so powerful? 

Still, as much progress as it felt like we were making, Seltie was still a league’s away and there were still thousands of these fuckers in our way. I kept pressing forward. “Raven, how you doing? Lightning holding up?” 

“As best as it can!!” she yelled. “Though I’m getting dizzy as fuck!!” 

“Just don’t think and you won’t get dizzy!” 

“Oh okay!” she said. 

We kept going forward and forward, tramping as many crystal things as we could. It wasn’t fool proof. Some would try to hop ontop of the forcefield and while most would get electrocuted and die or fall off, some would stay on enough to trash and bang at the forcefield until they died. It didn’t do much to actually damage it but it did mean I had to spend energy repairing it which was… y’know, a thing. 

Honestly? This was super fucking exhausting? And yeah we were killing them but only by the dozen and Seltie still a world’s away. Furthermore, Raven wasn’t saying anything because she’s dumb and proud but I could tell… she was getting a bit worn out too. 

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. This wasn’t gonna work. 

They kept breaking through. More and more. Making more and more holes in our rainbow orb. This wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t sustainable. They just kept coming and coming and coming and eventually it wasn’t long before one of them was able to reach through and grab my hair, causing me to lose concentration and trip and before I knew it the forcefield was gone and I was falling into a wave of souldiers. 

I thought I was done for as a group of crystal beings stood over me but then above me, doing a front flip, Raven came swinging down with two lightsabers up and sliced up a bunch of the crystal beings and killed them all, leaving a nice little opening for us two. 

“You good??” she said, giving me her arm to help me up. 

I took it. “Yeah. Fuck. Sorry. That was… that was my fault…” 

“We don’t have time for you to feel guilty!” she yelled. “We got some things we need to take care of.” 

She was right, as much as I hated to admit it. The crystal souldiers were gaining on us, running towards us even more rapidly than they had originally. Raven assumed a battle stance, taking out two of her lightsabers. I held out my hands, feeling the rainbow power surge through me. We stood, back to back, ready for whatever came our way. 

The fight began. 

Raven began slashing and swinging, carving up several things. Meanwhile I was focused on moving my hand. I threw a bunch of green explosions out in the field, making a bunch of them fall over and disintegrate. For those that were closer, I used my reality powers to phase out the floor under them and they fell into it and came out from the…. “ceiling “ of space and crashed upon hitting the ground, the red aura leaking out each time. It was good at large crowd control. 

But shit when it came to close combat. The closer they got, the less explosions I could use, and there was always going to be one or two stragglers who made it past all of that. I tried to take care of them as they came but it was hard. Do an explosion this close and I might risk Raven getting hurt or, even worse, me. 

Eventually one got over to me and started trying to bite my shoulder. I blasted him straight through the chest and he fell over but apparently that distracted me for long enough for others to get close. Shit. I tried to blast them but they were coming too fast. Fuck. 

“Here!” Raven yelled. “Take this!” 

She threw me something and I caught it. It was her red lightsaber. 

Oh fuck. 

Now we were talking. 

I unsheathed it and let the red blade come out. Standing behind her, we both swang, almost in unison, slashing and stabbing anything that dared came close. Occasionally Raven would send out something like a force push to send people back or do more force lightning. I would also take the time to do more of the reality portal trick and this seemed to be working. 

Holy shit we were actually doing. We were actually making this work. 

At one point we did a cool flip over each other and took over each other’s side of the conflict. Was it necessary? I dunno. Was it sick as hell? Yes. 

I wasn’t as skilled at this as Raven was, if i’m being honest. This was my first time holding an actual true lightsaber. Yet i tried to hold my own and i wasn’t doing too bad, if I do say so myself. 

Though this wasn’t enough. We could take out, what, a few dozen a minute? There were still a few thousand left. How many did Seltie have?? Fucking hell goddamn 

We kept swinging to the best of our ability. The one problem was that we weren’t able to really secure a good opening for ourselves. We were locked down here, unless 

“Raven!” I yelled behind my back. 

“Veronica! This is not the time! I’m trying to fight!!” 

“Okay but I’m gonna try flying!!” 

“What??” 

“I’m gonna try to fly over to Seltie!!” 

“... are you sure that’s gonna work??” 

“Nope!” I yelled as I floated in the air and over the crowd. “You gonna be good covering here by yourself?” 

“Uhhhh” She threw her saber down a long row of souldiers and caught it as it came back. “We’ll see.” 

I kept flying over everyone. I could see Seltie’s dumbass cone house from here. Okay cool. Just gotta make my way over there an- what the fuck

Several souldiers were jumping over themselves, trying to catch me in the sky. I tried to respond by going further up in the sky but one of the crystal things grabbed another and threw it at me. It missed and I yelled at “the fuck, asshole?” but then it just kept throwing one after another and as best as I could try to dodge, one finally hit me and I fell to the ground with a sharp thud. 

I tried to gather my wits about me as I got up. I couldn’t focus on much because underneath the sound of all the souldiers screaming was the sound of Raven, also screaming. Oh fuck. They had gotten her. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. 

I needed to save her. But before I could even think about getting up, one of the crystal things put its knee on my chest and another put its foot on my right arm. Another grabbed my hair and pulled on it, keeping me upright and hurting. Another looked at that sight, curious, with a turn of the head, as if it was getting an idea. Trying to replicate its motions, it grabbed at my left arm and pulled it, tearing it completely off. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuc k fuck fuc k fuck OWWWW 

Ow oww ow ow ow ow 

This hurt 

Like a motherfucker. 

Blood had splattered everywhere, all over my outfit too, fuckers. My scream attracted a whole group of other crystal souldiers, who proceeded to crowd around, watching the occasion, screaming in either support or pain. Or both. The ones that already had their hands on me took this as inspiration and started pulling and it fucking hurt. 

  
I needed to get out of this. I couldn’t let this be the end. I couldn’t die. 

Well. I couldn’t die. 

Wait. That's' right. 

Okay time to find a way out of this. 

I had a bit of energy left to make a forcefield, I think. Right now a lot of my power was going to making my arm regrow. Maybe I could do a blast? No that wasn’t strong enough. Ughhhh. 

The crystal thing pulled my hair again, making me sit up. That’s when I saw her in the distance - Giantonica. Yes. Yes yes yes. Okay. I can do this. 

But 

I need to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. 

I closed my eyes. Maybe I could channel into that dumb “force” thing she always used just this once to find her. It was hard, given there were thousands of screaming souls in the area and also I don’t know how the force works. But eventually I found her. She was weak. Fuck. Fuck fuck. 

This would be a gamble but I needed to make sure this went well. I made my right arm glow green and suddenly the crystal holding me had its hands burnt off. It screamed even more in pain. I used that to grab my torn off left arm and threw it up in the air “RAVEN. CATCH” 

As that happened, I made sure to send another forcefield bubble around Raven and then made it float up in the sky. This should keep her safe for a while, or at least for as long as what I was about to do. 

I turned my attention to Giantonica. I didn’t have much power free at the moment, so I just had to hope i had enough for this. The giant version of me, which was still wincing her hand in pain, suddenly got a blank look in her eyes and assumed position again. As it did, her pupils went from being a gorgeous emerald blue to a deep deep deep red. She looked down, as beams of heat came out of them and onto the field in one straight line, catching several hundred souldiers in the blast… as well as me. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: for every review you leave, veronica gets more of a chance of winning, so leave reviews!!


	149. We’ll Carry On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alec came and found me and asked if i was doing okay and i said i was worried and so he sat with me for a bit until i was okay to leave the restroom

It took me a moment to come back to my feet. I felt… honestly like shit, why bother lying? I had just been exploded like all fucking hell, by my own giant doppleganger no less. I would be more upset if it wasn’t my own dumbass plan. Still, it seemed to have worked. I think. At the very least I wasn’t getting attacked. 

I looked at my arm. Yep, still missing one.. Fuck. My skin was also burnt and badly damaged and my legs felt weak, like I could fall over at any moment. I could feel myself slowly healing but not fast enough. Fuck. 

I could see Seltie on the other side of space still. She was so far away, sitting on her cone, eating a cookie. This bitch. I would kill her soon enough. 

Well okay. There was one problem with that. There were still a thousand or so crystal souldiers blocking the way. They were giving me space, which was odd. I guess they were too busy looking at the scorched ground of space, trying to figure out exactly how that happened. 

I looked beyond the horizon. Giantonica must have fallen over at some point. Poor thing was probably tired and exhausted. You hate to see it. 

I looked at the souldiers. There were still so many left. I had to do what I could to take them down. I don’t know… I don’t know if I was strong enough, but i had to do it. Even if it meant dying here. I would just keep dying and then respawning and then dying and respawning as much as I could until I finally take all these fuckers down. I don’t even care. Let’s fucking go. 

I stood up, my knees wobbling a bit as I coughed up some blood. I held my hand in front of me and watched it glow with green energy. You got this. You can do this. You’re Veronica Sonya Elm Rune. You can do fucking anything. 

Just then I noticed something to my side. A weird…. Large circle. It kinda looked like… one of those hedgehog ring things?? And out of the portal stepped out… Pirate Fidan?? 

“Argh, I hope i ain’t be late,” she said with a smile. 

I turned to her. “Pirate Fidan?? What the FUCK are you doing here??” 

Suddenly Raven descended from above us in her bubble. “Oh!! Pirate Fidan! You got my text! Good! I wasn’t sure if this place got reception or not!” She popped her forcefield bubble and fell down next to me and threw my arm back at me. “Oh, thanks for the arm, Veronica. The blood really healed me back up to full.” 

I stumbled a bit trying to catch the arm with one hand. “You… you fucking texted her??” 

Raven smiled. “Yeah I mean, I knew you wanted to do alone and what not but honestly, Veronica, even I knew that was a dumb fucking plan.” 

I huffed. “Okay so Pirate Fidan is here. Great. Cool. Do you really think that’s really gonna give us an edge in battle?” I looked over at the pirate woman. “No offense.” 

“Yar, none taken!” She smiled. “But what kinda scallywag do ye take me for? I wouldn’t just come ere alone.” 

“Oh. Okay….” Then it hit me. “Wait, what?” 

“Raven’s lucky I be knowin’ the location of a lot of SWIMs.” 

“... What? What’s that supposed to me-” 

I was interrupted by another portal ring opening. 

And then another one. 

First one. Then two. Then three. And then several. It was kinda like that one scene from that one movie but way better because I was the one writing it. Space was filling up with circles and circles and circles and out of them stepped out different people, different SWIMS from different universes. Out of one portal stepped a group of SWIMs all wielding blue lightsabers. Then came a group of SWIMs wearing what looked to be postal service uniforms. Then there were some that looked like weird cat human things, kinda like Macavity. Swinging from high above was the SWIM from the Spiderverse, all decked out in their costumes. Out one ring came a bunch of weird looking SWIMs that kinda seemed to be LEGO minifigs. There was a group of them that looked to be dressed up as various different witches and skeletons and frankenstein monsters, probably from the Halloween universe. Then one after another we got SWIMS from the Desert Military Explorer universe, the assassin criminal guild universe, the primordial ancient hunter universe, and the treasure hunter universe and even somehow the Podcast universe. One giant giant ass portal opened up and out stepped a giant mech, presumably from the mecha universe. 

Holy fucking shit. 

There were more people here than I could count. This was… fucking hell. 

And just to add to things, another ring portal opened up besides me and through it came the people from my universe: my SWIM, Train Delnys, Train Mira, Mara and Fidan and Artis. 

“The fuck are you all doing here?” I asked them. 

“We heard you needed help,” Serinepth said, smiling. 

Mira stood next to me. “Yeah. And looking at you, we came here just in time.” 

I wanted to argue, tell them all to go back home, but instead all I could say was, “Thank you.” 

“Don’t mention it.” Delnys groaned as she took out a giant scythe from her bag of holding. The thing was the size of her. “Now what are we gonna do?” 

I looked at the wall of crystal souldiers in front of me. This could be… helpful. Looking down, i reattached my arm to its socket and used my abilities to connect them back together. Way quicker than waiting for a new one to grow. I then looked across the horizon. With the energy saved by just reconnecting my old arm, I was able to muster up enough to get Giantonica back on her feet and ready for action. 

I turned around and looked at them all. “Let’s fucking kill these assholes.” 

And with that, we charged forward, ready to attack. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i don’t know anything about film directing but if i was directing this scene i would just play welcome to the black parade on loop for background music and atmospheric noise so idk just a suggestion


	150. mara’s marathon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: at the end of the school day, alec and i took our masks off and kissed

H*ly frick! 

This was all so weird, too weird for a simple Mara like me to understand. Like all I was doing was standing in a desert after that brunette girl and that blue hair girl left. And then suddenly this woman who looked like my mom but sounded like a pirate shows up in a black portal and tells us that we need to all come with her and get ready to fight and so i’m like okay?? And suddenly I’m in this thing that i think is like space and now it’s like woaaah okay there’s a lot of crystal things to fight and i would be more nervous if killing rock things weren’t my specialty. 

I cracked my neck both sides and stretched my arms out to warm myself up. This was gonna be a heck of a time but if i could help, i should. There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing. 

“Alright!” The brunette haired girl that I think was named Veronica said. Despite clearly being blown up, there was something about her that looked cool and glam. It was neat. “I need to get to Seltie. The souldiers aren’t what matter here. I just need you to keep them off me and don’t die. Got it?” 

“Got it!” the blue haired girl who looked kinda… try hard goth-y (though tbh i kinda liked her style, like idk there was something… appealing about it). She got out two light sword things and charged forward and that was my cue to also start running into the chaotic crowd where dozens if not hundreds of people on our side were already in deep combat. 

“Hey!” I heard Integrity yell from behind me. “Where do you think you’re going, sis?” 

“Fighting!” I yelled without turning my head. 

“Without me?” 

“No! You just gotta keep up!” I ran even faster. This would be a true test. I needed to see if she could measure up with her new vampire powers. I couldn’t spend too much time keeping track of her though. I jumped on the head of a crystal souldier and twisted it around and then lifted the body over my shoulder towards a crowd of other crystals. I jumped on another’s head and just kept leaping like a leap frog, twisting as I went. It was all about agility and momentum and movement and also one's ability to twist heads around like  _ snap.  _

I looked over to see Integrity trying to cast fire spells on the crystal beings and they were, like, kiiiinda working? But not really so I hopped over to her. “No no. Sis, you’re a vampire now. You gotta do it the vampire way!” 

“What do you mean like this?” she started trying to bite one of the souldiers with her teeth and then it clanged and she went “OW!” 

“No, not like that,” said another voice and I turned and it was mom! “Integrity, right? Use your claws. Your strength. Rip and tear.” 

“Rip and tear?” Integrity looked confused and then shrugged and reached into the mouth of a crystal thing that was trying to bite her and ripped its entire jaw off of its socket. She turned and looked at me and mom proudly. “Like that?” 

Mom huffed, but with a slight smile. “Yes, dear. Like that.” 

“Hell yes! I’m gonna keep doing that then!” Integrity patted me on the head and then rushed off, ripping and tearing her way through the crowds of crystal souldiers. I didn’t get time to focus on it much because eventually mom called out for me. 

“Mara! Pay attention!” she yelled as she batted a crystal thing in the head and sent it my way. I jumped up and did a side kick on its head, hitting it back to her as she sunk her claws straight into its chest and threw it forward, bowling down a line of people. “We need to make a stack for your dad!” 

“Dad? A stack? Why?” 

“Just do it, honey!” Mom yelled as she kept tearing down several more things. 

“Don’t worry, I can help with this!” I heard a familiar voice yell but it was kinda different. Swinging down from above was a woman in a red and black spandex suit with sharp white eyes drawn on it and holes for the horns and tail. 

“Integrity?” I asked her. 

“What???” She looked shocked, her eyes somehow animating despite being a mask. “I’m…. I don’t know who you’re talking about! I’m… Spider-Tief.” 

“Oh, hey there you are!” I heard an actual familiar voice say. I turned to see my Integrity. She was standing with a bunch of other similar looking people. “I went ahead and collected a few Integrities I could find! I figured as the backbone of the group it made sense for me to find as many as I could! We got Spider Integrity, Eyepatch Integrity, Real Estate Integrity, Jelliclegirty, Card Game Universe Integrity, Podcast Integrity-” 

“I have no idea what’s going on, can I please leave?” Podcast Integrity asked. 

“Nope!” Integrity smiled. “Anyway, yeah, what we have here is a collection of the finest Integrity Idleberrys the multiverse has to offer.” 

One of the tiefling girls, this one with red skin and orange hair wearing fine, expensive clothing spoke up. “Um, actually my name isn’t Integrity, it’s Anarchy Applebottom, so should I really be here?” 

Integrity rolled her eyes. “Just fucking… lets start helping.” 

The Integrities all nodded and began attacking, some with clever rope techniques, some with fire and disguise magic, some with webs and some by playing cards that somehow summoned monsters which did a lot of damage??? And then there was me and Integrity, side by side, just ripping and tearing our way through it all, like sisters do. Eventually we had a large pile of crystal beings on the floor, not entirely dead as that would cause them to disappear. Then dad came out, seemingly hidden somehow and stood up on the platform. 

He got out his lyre. And he began to play a song. 

And idk why but there was something about his performance that was… enthralling. 

I’m not sure if I had the words to describe what he was doing, but if i tried to, it would be that  If you perform for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to inspire wonder in your audience by singing, reciting a poem, or dancing. At the end of the performance, you can choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a number equal to dad’s Charisma modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against dad's spell save DC or be charmed by him. While charmed in this way, the target idolizes him, it speaks glowingly of him to anyone who speaks to it, and it hinders anyone who opposes him, avoiding violence unless it was already inclined to fight on his behalf. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour, if it takes any damage, if you attack it, or if it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies. 

Holy shit. I guess these things counted as humanoids because the hundreds or so in our range suddenly looked at dad with intense admiration, the same way I usually do because tbh dad is cool. And kinda the same way mom does which… I don’t wanna dwell on that tbh. 

A group of souldiers that were 61 feet away started to try to attack dad but all the charmed ones suddenly turned on them, thrashing them and tearing them into pieces. Woah crap. Don’t mess with dad. Or bards. Geez. 

I tried to look around to see what all stuff I could see. We were keeping a fair bit of the crowd occupied. That was good. But I couldn’t quite see Veronica. And I could see Seltie. I looked down at the tattoo on my wrist. She had my soul. Or was gonna have it. I couldn’t let that happen. I looked around. I could see the mech marching along, stomping several things in its path. I pulled on the fabric of Spider-Tief’s spandex. 

“Um, yes, hello strange adorable half elf vampire!” she said. 

“Can you swing me up in the sky and onto the giant robot??” I asked her. 

“... why?” 

“I need to make sure I can get over there to Seltie!” 

“... how old are you kid?” 

“14?” 

“That was the same age I was when I lost my shoe store salesman father to a mugger. Look, with great power comes gr-” 

“You wanna swing me up in the air or should I just try my best running jump?” 

Spider-Tief sighed and shot out a web at the top of the mech and wrapped her arm around me and suddenly we were flung up into the air and she placed me on top of the mech’s shoulder. “Alright kid. Stay safe and stay off drugs!” With that, she hopped off and down at the scene of the battle. 

I walked nervously over to the glass windows on the head of the mech, which I guess was the cockpit. There I could see a Mira and Integrity and Serinepth all sitting in three smaller chairs while a Winsler sat in one big chair. All of them were wearing skintight blue and red plugsuits. 

Mech Pilot Serinepth was the first one to notice me. “Captain Wallaby, there’s a vampire on the shoulder of the mech.” 

Mech Captain Winsler turned his head. “So there is. What can I help you with, child?” 

“I need you to carry me across the battlefield!” I yelled. “Over to where Seltie is.” 

“Hmm…” Mech Captain Winsler stroked his chin. “We are supposed to clear a path, yes.” He turned to the others. “Alright, team. We need to get this vampire child to safety so she can go kill a thing. Remember your training. Remember what we prepared for.” 

“Aye aye, Captain Wallaby!” they all said in unison. 

Mech Captain Winsler pulled out a joystick and placed a helmet on his head. ‘Alright. WC-Unit SWIM, prepare for movement!” 

Suddenly we were off, the giant mech (which was about the same size as the giant Veronica) stomping on several crystal souldiers. I kinda hoped they weren’t stomping on any good guys too but I guess we’ll just have to go with it. Before long, I was there on the other side of the fight. I gave the WC-Unit SWIM crew a wave and a “thank you!” before hopping down and landing on my knees, directly in front of Seltie’s house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: you may be wondering how integrity knew she was talking to Podcast Integrity and the answer to that is that it’s just a fanfic, friend. you just kinda have to roll with it.


	151. raven’s reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i’m home now. Dad asked me how school went. I’d say it went pretty well :)

Okay so thsi was bound to be some big fuckin shit. I’m glad my whole “text pirate fidan and tell her to bring people here” plan was workignw ell so far. That was some smart thinking on your part, Raven. You should give yourself a pat on the back except you shouldn’t because you have two lightsabers in your hands and if you pat yourself on the back now you’re going to slash yourself. So that wasn’t good. 

Still I rushed forwards, sabers in hand, slashing my way through. Clo- Veronica’s (sorry, still getting used to it!) blood was doing me wonders. Like yeah the whole thing of getting mauled by the crystal thingie fuckers was super annoying but now? I felt good as new and ready to kick ass. I stabbed my blue saber into the back of a souldier and watched it disintegrate and scream. 

I heard a big boom next to me and saw a bunch of souldiers taken down by a giant canon ball. I turned to see Pirate Fidan, cannon gun in hand. Standing next to her was a person with blonde hair and brown jacket with an eyepatch and a giant keg of TNT. 

“Can i blow them all up?” the person said. 

“Yar. Be my guest,” Pirate Fidan smiled. 

“Hell yeah!” the blond person said, throwing the giant barrel and shooting it in the air, causing a huge ass explosion that took out a shit ton of crystal guards. 

“Holy shit!” I yelled. “Who the fuck are you??” 

“Oh! Raven. This be my old trainee, Cannon Nathan!” 

“Hey!” Cannon Nathan said, sending out another keg barrel and blowing it up. 

I gave a light wave with my blue lightsaber hand and turned to Pirate Fidan. “Can you and Cannon Nathan clear a path for me? I need to get to Seltie.” 

“Can do! Blam!!” Cannon Nathan said, throwing another barrel from… somewhere and somehow blowing more stuff up. 

Pirate Fidan placed her hook on my shoulder. “Raven, make me proud out there. Save the world.” 

There was something about that which seemed weirdly… motherly?? And under any other circumstance I would either be weirded out or cry but instead i was just like, “Thanks! I’m gonna go kill some things now!” 

I used the force to push a large amount of souldiers that weren’t blown up by that cannon person’s TNT over and onto their backs, which allowed me to run even more forward even faster, using my super cool sith high speed which is a thing that force users can do (seriously look it up) 

I was stopped by a large group of them in front of me but they were soon shot down by something to my side. I turned around to see Winsler sitting on Serinepth’s shoulder, the two in some sort of Master Blaster set up, with Winsler shooting his gun and Serinepth shooting her scorching rays, which seemed to kill these rock people really well. 

Winsler turned to me. “Oh hey Raven!” 

Serinepth huffed, the way an exhausted mother does. “Winsler! We don’t have time to socialize! We need to clear a path to Seltie!” 

“Oh…” Winsler looked down and reloaded his gun with more bees. “Yeah you’re right.” 

Serinepth looked over at me. I was never too fond of her tbh. Mainly because my main experience with her was that she sentenced me to die when she took over the school and also she was a bad kisser. But that was all in the past. Still, as we shared glances, I could recognize that look in her face - it was a look of “raven i know we’ve had our differences in our past and have both committed awful acts and atrocities to each other but the circumstances we currently find ourselves in is so catastrophic that we have no choice but to put everything behind us and work together in a common goal of keeping everything from being fucked up and while whatever happens from this point on is unclear, right now we’re a team.” It was the same look Veronica would give me sometimes. 

She turned her head forward and began shooting out more and more scorching rays. I used that as my excuse to find an opening to squeeze between even more of them. Thankfully, the group of lego SWIM were currently building a nice little fence out of bricks they were pulling out from… somewhere. This gave me a nice little path. 

But hey, you know what the thing with legos are? They fucking break really easily which is why you gotta do the smart thing and superglue all the pieces together. But that’s besides the point, as the important thing was that the fence was coming down and a bunch of crystal souldiers were surrounding me and crowding over me and fell on lego Mira and her arm snapped off which was totally not cool. She was able to snap it back into place but still, like, wtf

The crystal souldiers surrounded us and I tried my best to fight off a crowd that were trying to trample me over. I swung my lightsaber and force pushed them but for every one I took down, another one followed up and it wasn’t long before I was on the ground again, crystal things tearing at me. God I didn’t want Veronica to lose another arm but on the other hand I wouldn’t mind being thrown one right now. 

Just as one began to claw for my face, a blade went right through its chest. Well, not one blade. Two blades. Red ones. The creature fell over and I saw the face of its attacker - my best friend Mi’ra, holding out her hand. “Well? What the fuck are you waiting for?? You just gonna lay on the fucking ground forever??” 

I grabbed her hand and lifted myself up. Not only was she there but so was… Winslayer! And Iniquity! 

“Y’all!” I said wrapping my arms around them in a hug. “You made it! You survived!” 

Winslayer pushed me away. “Cool it with the sentimentalities, Blood Charm. We’re here to get a job done.” 

“Oh… right…” I put my arms down by my side and picked up my lightsabers off the ground. “Um. So what do you say? One last Black Parade mission?” 

“Oh this won’t be the last,” Mi’ra smirked evilly. “The Black Parade won’t let a silly thing like our universe dying keep us from being the best.” 

I smiled. “Yeah. You’re right.” 

Iniquity snarled and unsheathed her saber. “Enough talk. We’ve got shit to do.” 

“RIght!” I said as I got out my blue and red lightsabers and began swinging. My goal was to keep clearing a path for myself. While I covered the front, Iniquity would be by my side, helping me mow things down, while Mi’ra and Winslayer lagged behind and took care of ones that tried to attack us from the back. 

“Impressive!” Iniquity grinned, as she sliced a souldier in half. “You’ve managed to become not shit after all, Blood Charm.” 

“Thank you!” I said, slicing up my own load of crystals. 

“But blue saber eh? You’re not a traitor now, are you?” 

“Ehhhh” I struck out my hand and took down a group with force lightning. “Think of me more as an independent contractor, more than anything.” 

“If you say so, boss.” She impaled one of the souldiers on her saber. 

It was still squirming a bit so I stabbed my blue saber through it, our two blades side by side in this thing’s chest. “Say, um, Iniquity. When all of this is over, did you wanna, y’know… get a drink or something?” 

I could actually see her orange face blush a bit but then she shook her head. “Let’s just focus on making sure we don’t fucking die here, Raven.” 

I shook my head too and retracted my blade. “Yeah. Of course. Let’s fucking do it.” 

With that, I looked at her and she looked at me and we both nodded. We held out our hands and simultaneously released a huge wave of force push that knocked an entire segment of the souldiers down, leaving me…. A straight path down to Seltie’s place!! 

Fuck yeah!! Running with my arms stuck out behind me and my blades out, I jumped on each of the bodies on the ground, step by step by step by step until I was there, right in front of Seltie’s house. I arrived just in time to have that one red haired girl do a superhero landing down right next to me. I tried to see where she came from and looked around which is how i noticed that the wall of souldiers we had knocked over were back on their feet. I couldn’t see Iniquity or any of the other Black Parade members anymore. Fuck. I guess I just had to hope they were okay. 

I tightened my grip on the sabers and looked at the witch in front of me. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if youre excited the black parade returned!


	152. veronica’s vengeance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: ugh the worst part about school is having homework again like geez i don’t wanna do homework i wanna write fic

This whole thing was turning out to be a surprise. A welcome one, I guess, but still, like… what the fuck?? 

I stretched out my legs. They were still a bit weak from exploding myself, to be honest. At a certain point I would have to learn to stop doing that. But so far it’s had a 100% success rate so… that day won’t be today. 

With my legs adequately prepared, I made a dash forward. I still had a long way to go before I could reach Seltie, the fucking bitch. I wasn’t quite sure how I was gonna do it but at least with, well, everyone else here, I would have a way easier time than I would otherwise. It gave the souldiers some distractions at the very least. 

Running as fast as I could, I kept snapping my fingers, hoping that I could make some of the crystal things phase out of existence. It wasn’t as effective as it would be if I concentrated more but it gave me some room to make distance. If any approached me from the front, I would make a hand free and shoot an explosion directly in front of me. Eventually this all caught up with me though. My powers… fuck I still felt so weak. 

I kept shooting blasts in front of me but right as I made one, a souldier tackled me from the side and fucked up my aim and caused me to fall over. The one that was in front of me that I was trying to hit began trying to bite at my face before it was kicked away and smashed by someone else. Then I heard 13 blasts fire one after another. I turned up to see my savior to find the scarred face of Delnys who had a cigarette hanging from her mouth. “I thought you were a god or something.” 

“I’ve had a rough fucking day,” I complained as I got to my feet. 

“Yeah well,” she reloaded her scythe gun. “Same here. Have you seen my girlfriend?” 

“Me? No? I thought she was with you.” 

“She ran off somewhere, said she was gonna try a thing.” 

“Huh…” Just then I saw a Mira run up to us. I… I’m gonna be honest, I wasn’t quite sure which one it was. And then she kissed me on the cheek so I’m gonna assume it wasn’t Train Mira. 

She got out her lyre. “Are you okay?? Shit’s wild out here.” 

“Yeah I’ll be okay,” I said as I blew up a souldier that was trying to attack me from behind. “Just a bit stressed is all.” 

“Understandable,” Mira said as Delnys stood behind her, reaping crystals with her scythe and then shooting them with the gun part of it. Mira played some notes on her lyre. “Well, if you need it, I think you can do this.” 

“Oh thanks,” i said, suddenly feeling a bit more inspired, like 1d8 more. 

Suddenly we heard another, kinda familiar voice come from behind me. “Oh you can still play yours? Lucky.” I turned around to see a Mira with longer hair and one arm. 

“Oh, uh, hey!” Mira said. 

“Hey,” Podcast Mira said. “Anybody know what’s going on here?” 

“Shit’s fucked,” Mira told her. 

“Yeah, tell me about it.” 

“Holy shit is your arm okay??” Mira asked. 

Podcast Mira looked down at her right arm. “Hm? Oh yeah, it was… it’s been like this…” 

“Oh geez… I’m sorry…” Mira put her hand on her right shoulder. 

“Thanks…” Podcast Mira said. Suddenly she saw a group of souldiers approaching us and her left arm expanded into some weird, like… snake-ish Venom type thing and wiped them all out and knocked them down. 

“Holy shit!” Mira yelled. “What the fuck?” 

“Yeah that happens sometimes..” Podcast Mira sighed. “I just… I’m just rolling with it now, to be honest.” 

Suddenly another Mira, this time in dark clothing with goth-ish makeup showed up and looked at Podcast Mira. “Woaaah. That’s sick as hell. And you’re missing an arm too? That’s fucking Sith as fuck.” 

“Um, thanks. Who are you?” Podcast Mira asked. 

“Oh. I’m Mi’ra. I’m Raven’s best friend,” Mi’ra said as she took out her lyre saber and flipped off a bunch of souldiers and then stabbed them through the stomach while laughing manically. 

Podcast Mira turned to us. “Um, this is all very strange. I guess I’ll just keep fighting though? And, um, Veronica’s your name, right? I think that’s what the dark haired version of Fidan called you. Good luck.” 

“Thanks?” I looked at her strangely. What a strange Mira. I’m glad that I’ll probably never see her again. 

My Mira looked at me. “This is all very bizarre.” 

I snapped my fingers and dissolved a souldier that was about to pounce on Mira. “Tell me about it. But we don’t have time to dwell on it. Let’s fucking go.” 

We started running forward, Mira by my side and Delnys not far behind, still swinging her bigass scythe. Soon a few other Miras found us and followed, from the mira who had a red bandana and a giant electric guitar to a Mira wearing a spandex spider costume, a Mira with big anime eyes, a Mira from the universe where everyone is tall and Serinepth is short, and a Mira wearing a postal service outfit, amongst many others. Apparently Ninja Mira was there too but if she was, I couldn’t see her. 

Eventually we came across a familiar looking Mira, her hand stretched out into several goo like segments covering the heads of several souldiers. We all stopped in our tracks, looking at what Train Mira was doing. 

“Um, darling,” Delnys flicked her cigarette into the mouth of a dead souldier. “What’s going on?” 

“I’m a soul bound to oblex goo, right?” Train Mira said, her eyes closed. “Who's to say that i can’t take the souls back from them?” 

“That’s… holy shit.” I looked at her. “That’s terrifying.” 

“I’m gaining… so much from this.” Train Mira opened her eyes. “It’s like… every souldier is the equivalent of 1000 souls. It’s… so many.” 

“Are you… are you going to be okay?” Delnys asked, sounding legit worried. 

“Yes.” She retracted her goo from their heads and reformed her body back into how it was. “We’ll just… have a project, when all this is done.” 

“I….” Delnys stopped herself and got out another cigarette and lit it off the edge of Mi’ra’s lyre saber and placed it in her mouth. “I’ll ask later.” 

We continued our stampede, making our way through the crowd, all of us fighting, me erasing things while everyone else sliced and diced and Train Mira did… well, her weird ass thing. It was a good pattern and it was keeping us going for a bit. I had to admit, this was a good ass team to be on. We were getting shit done. 

But we still had a long way to go. 

Fuck fuck. 

A huge group of souldiers blocked our path and tried to lunge forward but they were stepped on by a Giantonica foot. 

“That thing was able to move??” Mira said. 

“Uh, yeah?” I looked at her strangely. 

“It didn’t move back in the prime universe!” 

“Because I didn’t want it to??” Then I looked up to see that next to Giantonica was a giant mech, also stomping around. And maybe my eyesight was deceiving me (ah, fat chance. My eyesight is as perfect as the rest of me) but it looked like Mara was on the shoulder of the mech. “Oh fucking hell she’s cheating.” 

“Hm?” Delnys asked. 

“Nothing! I hope you all can handle this on your own!” I looked at Mira. “Be safe, okay?” 

“Veronica? Where are you going? Are we going to do this together?” 

I lifted my hand and as I did, Giantonica stopped, turned, kneeled down and picked me up in her giant perfectly manicured hands. I could see Mira start to yell something but I couldn’t hear it as soon I was 100 feet in the air. 

It was too risky to have Giantonica move. I could step on someone important or I could use up too much of my power. But…. she doesn’t have to be the one to move. I looked around until I could see where Seltie’s house was, that fucking bitch. Then I commanded Giantonica to reverse her hand back and, in one great swing, throw me forward, where I landed, making contact directly with Seltie’s face, hitting her square in the fucking teeth. 

She fell down onto her house and I fell down on top of her. I got to my feet faster than she did and began punching her over and over again but before I knew it, I was pushed back by some sort of eldritch blast. My body flipped over and i landed down on the ground. Rising up to my knees, I looked to my side. Raven was there, as was Mara. And there was Seltie, standing calmly, a warm smile on her face. 

“Well girls.Congratulations on making it this far. Now let’s get this over with, shall we? I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: okay if you still had it looped you can stop listening to welcome to the black parade now, there’s only so many times you can listen to that before your mind becomes numb


	153. The Final Battle (for real this time)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec and alyssa and dylan and i all hung out during lunch and it was a lot of fun and it’s… nice that we’re all friends now, after all the shit we went through

I went first, trying to use my reality powers to surround Seltie in a blue glow but instead she just fizzled out of it. “Oh dearie. That’s not gonna work on me so easily.” 

What the fuck just happened?? 

Mara rushed forward and pounced towards Seltie’s head but then missed completely as Seltie was in a completely different location. Raven then threw her saber but before they could make contact with her, Seltie appeared behind Raven. “Nothing personal, kid.” She eldritch blasted Raven in the back, leaving her scorched and on the ground. 

I got pissed off and started throwing explosive balls right around her entire house, not giving a damn who it would hit. I just needed to take this bitch out. As the smoke cleared, Seltie was just... standing there, baking sheet in front of her as a shield. “Oh dears. Is that the best you can do?” 

Mara charged again, claws out, looking quite feral not gonna lie but once again Seltie disappeared and was on top of her house. She’s not… teleporting is she?? Well two can play at that game. I also have the power of space and teleporting stuff! I just had to figure out where she was gonna teleport and then I could follow her… That meant following her line of sight. 

I nudged Raven and gave her a look that said, “Okay girl you’ve fucked up a lot but I need you to attack right now and be my guinea pig for this.” And I guess she must have gotten the hint because Raven rushed forward with her lightsabers again and as she did I tried to look for where Seltie was looking.. only to see Seltie never change her line of sight. She was just in a new place. The fuck?? 

Oh I’m fucking dumb. She’s using time travel. Smart girl you are, Veronica. Really fucking smart. 

“How long are we gonna keep this up, girls? I have some baking I need to do and some more souls to collect.” Suddenly there was a ding from inside her cone house, like a cha-ching sound. “Oh, speak of the devil!” She opened her house door and pulled out a red ball of energy which she turned into a crystal. “Seems to be a waste to use it to make another one of those creatures, hm? Why don’t I just…” 

She held the crystal in front of her and suddenly a large blast of red energy came out of it and directly at us. Raven ran and pushed Mara behind her and then placed her two lightsabers in front in an X-formation to block the blast. I jumped in as soon as I could and made a blue energy forcefield in front of the group, allowing Raven to lower her sabers. She looked… very badly burned on the side of her torso. 

“Oh geez, lady…” Mara said looking at her. “You seem pretty banged up.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Raven said as she licked some of the blood that came off of the cuts on her face from earlier in order to look dramatic. 

“Don’t drink your own blood!!” Mara yelled. “That’s dangerous for vampires!!” 

“Hm?” Raven looked earnestly confused. “But… I did it all the time in my universe??” 

“Children, we don’t have time for this,” I stepped in. “Seltie is messing with time. We won’t be able to hit her until we can counteract that.” 

“Bravo,” Seltie did a fake insincere golf clap as the smoke from her soular energy blast dissipated “You should be proud of yourself for figuring that out.” 

“Fuck off, bitch,” i told her. I turned to the others. The two vampires looked at each other and nodded and began to both attack at the same time, hoping their speed would contain her. While they were distracting her and causing her to move around, I tried to subtly move my hands and with some blue energy caused spikes to emerge from the ground. I needed to be faster than someone who could fuck with time, which was no easy feat. Well, I should say feet, because that’s where I was hoping to impale her. 

I never did manage to hit her but Mara did end up flinching and reaching for her foot. “Ow!!” 

Seltie used this to Eldritch blast her with red soular energy on the side of the face, causing her to fall over. She got up and there was a deep deep cut on her left cheek. This seemed to enrage Mara who then went and tried to pounce once more on Seltie, fangs out and somehow actually got a hit on her… kinda. It was just a scratch mark on her side but it… it was something. Why was that? Did Mara catch her off guard or was Seltie getting weaker somehow? 

Seltie seemed to squirm at this, looking down. “It’s been so long since….” She shook her head. 

Mara, meanwhile, looked at the blood on her finger and shrugged and licked it. As she did, her wounds started to heal up… all except the one on her face, which healed partially but was still clearly there, a faint scar.

Raven used this time to try and swing at Seltie but it was no use as Seltie just appeared behind her again and this time slammed the cookie tray into the back of her head. It left a Raven shaped dent in it. 

Raven fell over and onto her knees. She rolled over, trying to get back up and blinked her eyes a few times. Then she started focusing on something. Something… behind me. “Oh fuck Veronica, you better put up a forcefield quick.” 

“Hm?” I turned around to see that somehow Cannon Nathan had gotten onto the shoulder of the SWIM mech and had placed a few exploding barrels in its blasters… exploding barrels which were now heading this way. 

“Oh fuck oh shit,” I said as I tried to put a forcefield around all three of us but instead I could only make one in time for me and Raven. Before the keg barrels could hit us, however, Seltie raised her hands and they stopped in midair. 

“Ahh this is aggravating. Why don’t we just send them back where they came from, shall we?” Black and white energy flowed from her hands and as it did, the barrels seemed to… go backwards. As if someone had hit rewind. And it wasn’t just them. The entire crowd of people were going in reverse, retracing their steps and walking backwards, down to the other side of the battlefield, back into their portals. 

This included Mara, who wasn’t in the forcefield. She started heading backwards, reverse pouncing which looked very strange. It got to the point where she was about to heal but then I reached out to her and pulled her in with Raven and I. For what it was worth, apparently my god powers were enough to stop this… time stuff. At least in here.. 

Seltie put her arms down and the black and white energy disappeared. She huffed, a very large and exasperated huff. “Ahh much better. And with any luck, the time travel should make it so most of them forget they were even here.” 

I let my forcefield down. Fuck… that was… I didn’t expect that to take so much out of me. Turns out creating a ball of energy that exists outside of all of time can be exhausting. I felt… like shit. I needed some time to just… fall over and recharge a bit. 

I turned to my weird vampire duo. “Raven, Mara. I need you to attack while I… while I....” 

“Actually,” Raven turned to Mara. “I need you to take care of this one. I need to concentrate.” 

“What could you possibly need to concentrate on??” I screamed at her. 

“Shhh.” Raven closed her eyes and appeared to do… some weird thing. It was kinda like meditating

Mara just shrugged and pounced forward again, doing her best to try and swipe at Seltie who was decidedly slower with her movements/time jumps. It was like she was just as tired as she was. I could feel my powers slowly and slowly returning, my energy recharging…. But not fast enough. Damn it. Come on. Come fucking on. 

I could hear Raven muttering some dumb shit next to me. Something like “i am one with the force the force is with me i am one with the force the force is with me” like we get it you’re religious let go of it already. 

Suddenly Raven snapped open her eyes. “Got it.” She began running. 

Mara gave one more swipe of her claws to Seltie who once again teleported to another location… a location… a location where Raven already was, lightsabers prepared and stuck out, impaled right through Seltie’s chest. 

“Holy shit…” I said, under my breath. 

Mara hopped on Seltie’s shoulders and gripped her hands around her neck and tried to pull. Seltie kept pushing in the other direction though. She must have known she was fucked. Even if she paused or slowed down time, she would still have to deal with being impaled with lightsabers or having her head tight in Mara’s grip. 

“Now, Veronica!” Raven yelled. 

I did my best to muster up the strength to get to my feet. With one last burst of adrenaline, I ran forward. As I did, I channeled everything… all my energy, all my power, directly into my first. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it, that I wouldn’t have enough energy to do it, that I would fuck up and miss or something. And not gonna lie: I almost did. I thought for sure I was a goner. And then I remembered what Mira said to me. How I could do this. And the d8 in my brain rolled and gave me a perfect 8 add on to my attack, meaning I was able to make contact with Seltie after all. And I jammed my fist directly into her stomach, piercing through her skin, channeling my energy into her. 

  
  


She looked at me with fearful eyes as her blue skin began glowing and surging with other colors - red, orange, yellow, green,and purple, back and forth, building up in her. A tear started to fall down. “I was… supposed to.. .asce-” 

She didn’t get to finish as the energy building up in her burst out and she exploded from the inside, leaving all of us covered in gross blood and leaving her robes down on the floor, with no actual body parts remaining. 

Raven retracted her lightsabers and smiled a smile of relief. “That was cool, huh? Using the force to find where she was gonna be? Tell me that was cool.” 

“That… that was cool…” Mara said as she fell over. “That was super cool.” 

I looked over at the army of crystal souldiers who all stopped screaming and began to adopt a posture of confusion. Suddenly they all shattered and evaporated, red energy going up into the air, every soul that this Seltie owned now free and going… somewhere. 

Mara looked at her wrist. “Hey… it’s gone.The tattoo.” She held up her wrist. Sure enough, it was. I looked at mine as well. No tattoo either. This was real. We did it. 

Suddenly out of the cloaks of seltie, black and white energy came flying out in a weird helix pattern. It moved in between Raven and Mara’s legs before finally rising up and flying directly into my chest. It felt… weird. Not really painful so much as… overwhelming. The blast was so extreme that I was momentarily lifted up in the air. It took a few beats before it finally subsided and I landed back on my feet again. 

“Um, Veronica…?” Raven approached me nervously. “You, uh… you okay?” 

“Hm?” I looked up at her. “Um, yeah, I’m fine.” 

That was a lie. I looked down at my hands. I wasn’t an idiot. I probably would’ve figured it out anyway, but… a part of my body already knew what happened. 

I had the power to control time now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: rip seltie


	154. what comes next

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I talked to my dad about maybe seeing if i can start doing therapy for my anxiety and he said it sounded like a good idea but we’ll need to talk about it more

I was looking at Veronica for like a really really fuckin long time and she was just standing there, looking at her hands like a weirdo or like she just got high on something and maybe she did because, like, battle adrenaline and stuff which is apparently liker regular adrenaline but i’ve never had regular adrenaline because drugs aren’t good for you and you should never take drugs, only blood and weed. 

“Veronica? You doing okay there, buddy?” I walked up to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. 

She shuttered a bit at the touch and turned to me. “Hm? What? Um. Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah. I think I’m ready to go now.” 

“Okay, cool. Cool cool cool.” I looked over to the small vampire child faceplanted onto the ground. “You doing okay there, friend?” 

Face still planted in the dirt, she held up her thumb. “Mhm. Yep. Doing great. Everything hurts.” 

Veronica was back to doing that weird “zoning out” thing so i whispered to myself “damn raven guess you gotta do all the work over here” and picked up the red haired vampire and placed her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Veronica, do you want to make the portal out of here or do you want me to? Because, like… I can do it if you need me to.” 

Veronica shook her head again. “Yeah. No. Yeah. I got it. I can… I can do it.” She raised her hand and started to make a portal but before she did, she turned and looked at Seltie’s house. She shrugged and snapped and set the house on fire and soon it was completely on the ground, destroyed. Then she opened the portal for real. “Sorry. Just had to do that.” 

“Nah like fuck i get it.” 

“Pleeaase don’t swear….” the red headed girl on my shoulder mumbled. 

“Nahhh” I said as we walked through. 

We ended up on the other side in some room in that castle place everyone was hanging out in earlier. There was that smashed up table and everyone just kinda sitting around or standing and then they started looking at us strangely and then as it hit them they ran up to us. 

Mira ran up to Veronica. “Oh my god. Did… did you do it?” 

Veronica was silent for a few minutes but then just nodded. “Yeah. Yeah we did.” 

Not Pirate Fidan and Not Pirate Artis ran up to my side and picked Mara off of my shoulder. Not Pirate Artis held her in his arms while Non Pirate Fidan held her forehead. 

“Mara, honey, are you okay?” she asked. 

“Mhm. Yeah… just… exhausted.” 

“What were you even doing there anyway?” Not Pirate Artis said. “You were in the desert with everyone else and then you were gone. And…” He ran his hands over her left cheek. “And how’d you get this scar?” 

“Mm?” Mara felt her face. “It’s… it’s nothing. It’ll heal up. It’ll…” And then she passed out. Not Pirate Fidan rushed her out of the room, Not Pirate Artis following. 

I kept waiting for someone to come up to me. 

No one did. 

Veronica and Mira were still holding each other, talking, Veronica looking completely wiped out. The rest of SWIM were crowded around them. Delnys and Train Mira were in their own corner. They all looked happy. 

That was nice. 

I walked out into the hallway, taking gradual, wobbly steps in my high heel boots. I passed down, not really sure where I was going, slightly tripping, until suddenly I stumbled over and fell down flat on my face. I passed out. 

I didn’t have much in the way of dreams…. Or really anything. I just sorta…. Was out. And then I woke up in a bright bright white room. Like weirdly bright. Uncomfortably bright. Ugh. I missed my all black walls. I tried my best to sit up, hoping I could examine my surroundings. 

“Oh hey you’re up.” I heard her voice. I turned to see Veronica, standing there in the doorway. “Feeling any better?” 

“Um, yeah.” I adjusted myself on the bed, fully upright now. I was in some sort of weird medical room, it seemed. I looked down at my midsection. My exposed midriff revealed the dark burn mark on the side of my ribs. That was fucking lame. “How did I get here?” 

“I noticed you had fallen over and went ahead and carried you over here. Figured you could use the rest. Hell, so could I, for that matter.” She gave a light chuckle. It was… probably supposed to be comforting but it was just… awkward. 

“I see…” I looked down at my boots. “How long was I out?” 

“Not too long. About a day.” 

“A whole ass day? Damn….” 

She just shrugged. “Eh. I mean, it’s whatever. We have all the time to rest now.” 

It hit me. I hadn’t really… thought about it. “We do, huh? There’s, uh… nothing else we have to do?” 

She sighed and sat down next to me on the bed. “Not really. I mean, Zombie Elrich is dead. Seltie, our at least our big bad Seltie, was killed by a fist. So I think we’re done. Unless you can think of anything else that needs taken care.” 

I looked Veronica up and down and then in the eyes. “No. No, I don’t think there is.” 

She nodded. “Then, uh, I guess that’s it.” 

“That’s it.” 

“Yep.” 

A wind blew in from the window. 

“Hey, um, Veronica?” 

She looked over to me. “Yeah?” 

“I’m…. glad you exist.” 

She seemed a bit taken aback. Like she didn’t expect me to say that. “Um, thanks. I’m glad I exist too.” There was a beat of silence before she huffed. “And, uh. I’m glad you exist as well. You were a big help out there.” 

“Just… glad I could do something good for once.” 

“I feel that.” She stood up and did a deep stretch. “Well, I’m gonna go check up on the others, let them know I’ve woken up. You can rest here if you want or get some blood from the kitchen or whatever. Cool?” 

I nodded. “Cool.” 

She walked out of the room and I just…. sat on the bed for a while. I wasn’t quite sure where to go or what I wanted to do. I guess at some point I was gonna have to leave this room. If anything just because I didn’t like being in battle damaged clothes, like what if someone else saw me?? 

Speak of the devil, I heard a little knock on the door and turned to see the small red haired vampire child. Her scar had mostly healed, though there was still a faint presence of it on her face. “Um. Hey.” 

“Hey, kid.” 

“I just wanted to say thank you. For carrying me out of space or wherever we were? Veronica won’t explain it to me and Integrity doesn’t remember even showing up there.” 

“Oh. I mean, it was nothing. But you’re welcome.” 

“No problem!” She twiddled her thumbs a bit and shuffled her feet a bit closer to me. “Um I heard what everyone was saying earlier. Before we went to fight that…. zombie guy. About how I shouldn’t talk to you and about how you’d be a bad influence or something. But, um… you seem pretty okay?” 

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Um. Thanks? I guess.” 

“It’s no problem!” She stood there for a second before jumping. “Oh gosh! Where are my manners? My name is Mara Artisan.” 

She held out her hand. I held mine out and shook it. “Raven Willow Blood Charm.” 

“Pleasure to meet you!” She took her hand back and examined me, her eyes squinting as she looked at my eyes and my teeth in particular. Then she gasped. “Wait!! You’re a vampire! Oh!! That’s why Integrity doesn’t like you!!” 

“Hm?” 

“You’re her ex!! Ohmygosh!!” she squeed. “Oh geez oh wow.” 

“Um. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah…..” 

“Well geez, that’s a bummer Raven.” She smiled. “I hope there’s no hard feelings!” 

“There… isn’t. Not from me, at least.” 

“Good.” She started walking out of the room but stopped and turned around. “Do you wanna come to the entertainment room? Winsler had Veronica use her reality powers to create something called a ‘gamecube’ and now he’s teaching everybody how to play Smash Bros.” 

“Um. I don’t know if… they’ll want me there.” 

“Why wouldn’t they? You helped us all out.” 

“Yeah, but, y’know… stuff is complicated.” 

“Well.” She walked up to me and put her hands over mine. “There’s an important thing to be learned. No matter what you did, no matter the hard feelings created, you’re always welcome to come play Smash Bros with your friends.” 

“Um. Well.” I looked at her in her red eyes. There was something… familiar about her. But in a good way. “Sure. Okay. I’ll come.” 

“Awesome! Great!” 

And with that she took me to the media room, where SWIM were sitting on a couch, in front of a glowing box, controllers in hand and smiling. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you would play smash with raven :)


	155. a lock on a pool gate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: school is closing down and we’re going for online classes again. It’s a bit annoying but i guess its safer. This does mean it’s the last day i’ll get to hang out with alec and dylan and alyssa and michelle all together for a while

Serinepth leaned back and yawned. It was hard to keep up with her friends. They still had their youth and their energy and their ability to tolerate alcohol. She looked down at her bottle of tea she had made Roger prepare for her. It wasn’t as good as what they were having but… it was better for her. 

Fidan and Artis had already taken Mara back to Whatever. It had been a while since the family had gone home and now that it was nighttime, it was probably the safest time to. Still, Serinepth asked if they needed any guards or assistance getting across Patter. Fidan just laughed in her face and walked out the door. 

Raven had left a bit ago. She tried to sneak out undetected but Serinepth had gotten pretty perceptive these days. She needed to be after she had lost track of, well, everything during that time. She thought about saying something to Raven but… what she would say? She didn’t have much experience with the girl. All she knew was that she had once sentenced her to death and that also she was a bad kisser. And then next thing she was choking out Veronica on a train. There wasn’t much to really explore beyond that, really. 

Speaking of Veronica, she had left already too. Hadn’t gone back home or anything. She didn’t really have a home to go to. But apparently she had “things” she had to think about or whatever that meant so she went back to her room. That just left Serinepth and Winsler and Integrity and Mira all to their own devices. 

Integrity slammed her empty pitcher of blood on the table. “Told you I could chug it in one gulp!” 

“That’s no fair!” Winsler moaned. “You’ve only been a vampire for, like, a weekend and you’re already good at it.” 

Integrity wiped the blood mustache off her lips with the side of her arm. “Heh. That’s because I don’t lose at things. I’m the best drinker there is” 

“Meow,” they all heard Mr. Wiggles say, but they didn’t stop to look at him, otherwise they would’ve seen the five empty classes of milk next to the small familiar. 

Mira just took a sip of her beer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This isn’t a competition. And if it was, like, blood is different from alcohol so it doesn’t count.” 

“Oh yeah?” Integrity smiled. “How would you know? Have you had blood recently?” 

“Um. No?” 

“Then shhhhhhhhush your face!” Integrity popped off the top of another bottle of blood using the corner of the table and began to drink it. 

Serinepth sighed but she couldn’t contain her smile. It’s true. These were children, really. Still in their young party day youth. But at the end of the day, beyond that, they were more: they were her friends. 

She took a sip of her tea, ignoring how shaky her hands were. For once, things felt calm in the castle. 

“So.” Winsler took a sip of his moonshine and placed it down on the counter. “With all that over, what do we do now?” 

“Yeah…” Mira sat back in her chair. “I’ve been wondering about that too, to be honest…” 

Winsler poked at his cup. “Like… do we go back to school?” 

There was a collective silence before they all said, “Nahhhh.” 

“Like don’t get me wrong!” Integrity leaned back in her chair. “Wild Cliff was fun. Cool and all. But… I’ve got important stuff to do now. Vampire stuff.” 

“Yeah and like… I don’t know…” Mira just sort of trailed off. 

Serinepth placed her cup down on the still broken table nervously. “As… much as I enjoyed my time in Wild Cliff, I think my years studying there are way behind me.” 

“Yeah….” Winsler took another sip. “I’m sorry, but… what does that mean then?” 

“That’s a good question…” Serinepth sighed. 

Nobody had to say anything, but Serinepth knew. This would be… it, wouldn’t it? Like they might see each other again, in the future, but without school, without some threat, with all the… everything that had happened in the last few years, there wasn’t much sense in them sticking together from now on. Life had changed. It was inevitable they would too. 

“I’ll probably find a house somewhere!” Mira smiled. “Maybe start playing music regularly again. Feels like I haven’t gotten to do that in a while.” 

“Oooh yeah that’ll be fun!” Integrity smiled. 

“What are your plans, Integrity?” Serinepth asked. 

“Hah. A rogue never reveals where she’s going. Or where she’s been. Only what she wants others to know.” 

Winsler gave her a blank look. “So… what does that mean?” 

Integrity shrugged. “I’ll probably stay around, figure this new body out, hang out with Mara a bit.” 

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” Serinepth looked down at her tea. “Hey, friends?” 

“Hm?” They all perked their heads up.    
  


“Um. Thank you. For everything” I never thought… when I joined with the advanced students back in episode 10, I never thought… we’d end up… here. But I’m glad we did.” 

Mira smiled. “Aww, yeah! Me too!” 

Integrity stood on the table. It started creaking back and forth and Serinepth wanted to say something but couldn’t bring it in her. Integrity raised up her glass. “To SWIM!” 

All Serinepth could do was smile. She held up her cup of tea. Winsler held up his cup of moonshine, Mira her bottle of beer. They clinked their glasses together. 

“To SWIM.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you love swim and are glad they got one last round together. We love a good curtain call


	156. a very big house in the country

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: alec came over and met dad and he was super nervous but dad says that alec seems nice just like “don’t do anything to hurt my son” and that was fuuuuuun

“Well, Veronica? What do you think?”

I looked over to Mira. I...still wasn’t believing this was possible. That we had gotten… here. 

Okay, to explain where the fuck here was basically Mira and I had gone through and looked at a bunch of potential possible universes to settle down in. Mira really really wanted the Animal Crossing universe but I was like… fuck that, I can’t do it. So we tried to find the next best thing and went to a universe kinda like it. A pretty peaceful place where we could find a nice little area away from major cities and infrastructure and things like that. I’m… not sure what to name this universe. Idk if there was anything really defining about it. Mira and I just call it home. 

I used my reality powers to create a house. I had to ask Mira exactly what those looked like because, y’know, the house I have the most experience with is a cone and fuck I don’t wanna make a replica of that. We made a nice little blue house, two stories with white bordering on it and black shutters and it was just really nice looking, like something straight out of Zillow. 

“Well?” I turned to Mira. “Shall we go in?” 

The cat walked in between our legs. “Ehhh looks a bit boring if you ask me. Really suburban. I expected something more gothic from you, Veronica. Something with more pizzazz:” 

I rolled my eyes. “Fuck you Macavity, you used to sleep in a garbage can, you don’t even know what pizzazz is.” 

“Yeah well you used to sleep in the sewers.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“No, fuck _you_.” Macavity jumped up on my shoulder and I began petting him. 

“I like it!” Mira smiled at me. “It reminds me of home.” 

We opened the door and saw the empty interior. The walls were a nice white and the floor a nice wood brown. The ceiling hung highly above us, leaving us lots of space to jump if we wanted to jump for some reason. The only problem with it was how empty it was. Thankfully that was something we could fix. We went through room by room, me snapping my fingers to make everything we wanted to have appear. By everything we wanted to have I mostly mean Mira. I gave her a nice room to practice music in, with lots of instruments and sound proof walls. I gave her a nice library room, full of lots of books and comics. Beyond that, it was a lot of basic set up stuff. A pretty good kitchen, a living room (with one of those new fancy TV things Winsler had me conjure up) and a cool patio in case for some reason we ever wanted to go “outside” which ew. 

I had just finished setting up our bedroom with a nice queen bed because we’re both queens when Mira turned to me. “This looks great for now.” 

“Does it? I’m just kinda winging it tbh” 

She kissed me on my cheek. “I love it. I’m gonna go mess around with some stuff, examine some things, get a better view of the place.” 

“Alright,” I smiled and nodded as she walked off. This was… wild. I had a home. We… had a home. 

Holy fuck. 

Just then Macavity walked into the room and hopped on the bed. “So have you told her yet?” 

I turned to him. “First off, no pets allowed on the new bed. Secondly, told her what?” 

Macavity stayed on the bed. “Ohhh y’know. About the time stuff.” 

My heart stopped. “How the fuck do you know about the time stuff?” 

“Jellicle cats know this stuff.” He smiled. “Plus I’m just very good at guessing things. Kinda just figured it out.” 

I huffed. “I’ll tell her… I’ll tell her when the time’s right. I mean, not like it matters, right?” 

“Does it not matter?” 

“It doesn’t. It’s… just another thing on a long list of what I can do now.” 

“I see.” He stretched out and yawned. “Well, if you say so. I’m gonna nap” 

“Whatever…” I groaned. I was done with this conversation. Time to go check out whatever Mira was doing. I walked down the stairs to see her on the living room floor, in front of the television, fiddling with it. 

“Oh hey!” she said, turning to me. “Do you know how these things work? I can’t remember how Winsler showed me.” 

“Uh… not really??” 

“Hmm….” She kept pressing buttons on the side of it and as she did, the monitor seemed to turn on. There wasn’t a clear picture, though. Apparently it wasn’t getting a signal which meant it was just showing static. 

Gray. Shimmery. Static. 

Static. Nothing but static. 

It 

It

It

“Veronica?’ I heard Mira say. She was standing up next to me, arm on my shoulder. “You doing okay?” 

“Hm?” I shook my head. “Um. Yeah. Yeah I’m doing alright. Just… got distracted is all.” 

“Okay, well.” She smiled. “We can try setting it up some other time. You hungry?” 

“Um, yeah. Yeah yeah.” I returned her smile as best as I could. “Yeah. Let’s… let’s eat. That sounds good.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review with what you would give mira and veronica for a housewarming present ^_^


	157. an empty castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad helped me paint the walls of my room black and rearrange some things. Says it’s good that I can make this place my own

Serinepth sat down on the duct taped table located in the planning room. The tea in her glass rippled as her hand shook. She wasn’t nervous. Just… her body did this sometimes. 

She wasn’t NOT nervous, though. These last few years had left… quite a number on her. And had given her a lot to think about. It was hard, really, to put it all into perspective. So much time seemed to pass in an instant.. And learning the reason for that didn’t help things. How could it? It didn’t change things. It didn’t change the years that passed, or how normal it all felt. 

How natural. 

She took a sip of tea. 

Caffeine was good. 

Two tiny knocks on the door. 

Serinepth straightened up her back, arranged her posture into something more sophisticated and turned around. It was just Winsler. She relaxed a bit. “Oh. I wasn’t sure if you were still here.” 

“Ye. I am. For now.” He sat down on the table next to her. “I reckon’ everybody else left?” 

“I believe so.” Serinepth sighed. Her hands shook the cup. “Mira and Veronica went to… somewhere. House hunting, they said. I guess they’re a thing now.”: 

“Now?” Winsler said absent-mindely. 

“And Integrity, she’s…. I don’t know what she’s doing. She left without saying anything. Just left a note that said ‘if i do ever die for realsies open this’ so I opened it and it was just a picture of her holding up two middle fingers that said ‘haha tricked you’ so… who knows.” 

“Ah.” 

She turned to him. “I take it… you’re leaving soon too?” 

“Um, probably.” He was holding some sort of business card in his hand. 

“You know, you can always stay here. There are tons of rooms open.” 

“I know, I know! It’s just…” Winsler looked down, wiggling his feet in the air. “I just don’t have the best memories of this place. Plus my heart isn’t here. It’s on the farm.” 

“Yeah, I definitely get that…” Serinepth huffed. 

He tugged at her sleeves. “Where’re you going? You staying here?” 

“I mean… I guess? Despite it all, Patter  _ is  _ my home. I love it here.” She looked around. “Though this castle is very big.” 

“Yeah. Too big for one person. What’re you gonna do with it?” 

She shrugged. “I’m still working on that. I don’t want the government to run from here. I don’t want any part in politics. I’m leaving that up to the people and my Captain of Community Outreach. And the bees.” 

“Right yeah. Though… some of the bees wanna go with me…” Winsler looked down. One of the bees was flowing in and out of his coat sleeve. “Something about solidarity with their queen.” 

“Makes sense.” Serinepth stood up. “Everything is… everything is hard, Winsler.” 

Winsler stood up on the table, being very careful as it wobbled under his weight and the duct tape holding it together threatened to break. He was now eye level to Serinepth. “Sinderman, if I’ve learned anything it’s that no matter what bad stuff happens, we’ll always be able to pull through and make somethin’ good from it. And, well, I reckon that applies here to.” 

Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t help but smile. He wrapped his arms around her and the two embraced in a hug. And held it there for a bit. 

“Well.” Winsler released his grip and jumped off the table and onto the floor, causing the table to break again. “I better get on the road before the bees start getting restless and start stinging people for fun again.” 

“Right of course.” There was a beat of silence. “Goodbye, Winsler Wallaby.” 

He tipped his hat. “Til we meet again, Serinepth Sinderman.” 

And with that, Winsler walked out of the room. 

Serinepth stood there for a bit, just taking it in. And by that, meaning she was just taking periodic sips of her tea while staring off into space. The castle was quiet. She wasn’t used to it being quiet. But she guessed she would have to. She took another sip of h- oh. She was out of tea. Hm. 

  
She turned to leave it on the table and then saw the table was broken. Oh. Right. She set her cup on the ground instead. Roger would pick it up, she was sure. Until then… well, she had been moping in this room for long enough. Time to do something productive and mope in her office instead. 

She moved down the halls and back into her small room and sat at her desk. She leaned back. She wished that clickable pens existed so that she could click it in her boredom. Instead she just sat there and tried not to think about it. 

Which was hard because she noticed something on her desk. A framed photo with a sticky note attached to it. The note read: 

_ Dear Serinepth,  _

_ I hope this is okay! I had Veronica conjure up a recreation of this for us, as best as I could remember it from our old universe. I hope it makes for a nice surprise! _

_ Love,  _

_ Mira _

_ P.S. i hope this is your desk because there are so many rooms in this place dude _

She lightly chuckled and took the sticky note off the glass. There in the frame was an old photo. She recognized it easily. It was from their first year. She had taken this selfie of the group because her arms were the longest. Integrity and Mira to her right, Winsler holding up Mr. Wiggles to her left. Aw. 

She began crying. Nice, happy tears this time. 

It was nice to have a memento from her school friends, even if they weren’t here in the castle with her. 

And then it hit her. 

And an idea began brewing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review in support of Serinepth, she deserves the love :)


	158. turning things around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dad gave the okay for the psychologist. This is good. This is very good.

Artis looked stressed. 

“Aw, what’s wrong, love?” Fidan rubbed his arm affectionately. “Are you still thinking about Mara?” 

“I just hope she’s okay…” he said in a low voice. 

“She’ll be fiiiine.” Fidan said. “Plus she said she’ll visit us when she can.” 

“I know! I know! I just…” His voice got lower and he said, almost in a grumble, “She’s just never been on her own before….” 

She kissed him. “She’ll be fine.” 

“Hey!” Integrity yelled. “I’m here too!” 

The two adults broke their embrace and turned to her. Artis gave a light cough. “Ahem. Yes. Ms. Idleberry. Are you ready for your first day of training?” 

“You bet your ass I am!” Integrity smiled and then covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh! Sorry! You don’t mind if I swear, do you?” 

He sighed. “Ms. Idleberry, we are all adults. You can swear.” 

“Oh fuck yeah!” She jumped with joy. 

Artis rubbed his temples. “Right. Fidan, can you introduce her to things?” 

“Of course, dear.” She turned to the young tiefling. “So time for the most important part of being a vampire.” 

“Doing cool vampire flips??” the orange skin girl asked earnestly.   
  
“No.” She handed Integrity a large pitcher full of red liquid. “Community. It’s time to distribute.” 

“Oh…” Integrity picked up the pitcher from the top and slung it behind her back. She followed Fidan and Artis through the cave system and the night exterior until they arrived in another cave-like formation, one that Integrity had been through before. Much like last time, there were just a bunch of vampires, 25 or so, sitting on the floor, all looking pretty sad and frail. 

“Alright, first up…” Artis looked down. “Madame Valentina, pleasure to see you here.” 

“Artis. Been a while.” She scowled. “Here to give blood?” 

“We got some donated to us from Patter,” Fidan said. “Integrity, give her a drizzle in her cup.” 

“Yes ma’am!” Integrity popped the cap off of the bottle and poured some into the glass. “Long time no see, Madame!” 

“Have we met before?” Valentina squinted her eyes and held up her glass of blood but before she could take a sip, Fidan spoke. 

“Oh, that reminds me, Madame. I heard about the deal you made with my daughter.” Suddenly Fidan grabbed the woman by the ear and raised her up in the air. “Don’t you EVER put my daughter into any deal like that, especially one that’ll put her in danger. Got it?” 

She dropped Madame Valentina down, who landed with a thud and began rubbing her ear. “Okay, fuck. It was her idea. Goddamn. You and your sister were always so fiesty.” 

Suddenly a tall rock creature entered the Grand Cave, looking very nervous, as if he was afraid he was going to be attacked by a ghost at any moment.

“Ah yes. Our new Patter volunteer from the community outreach program.” Artis turned to Integrity.. “Ms. Idleberry, do you mind taking care of him for me?” 

“Can do, Papa Artis!” 

Artis froze and shivered. “Please… never call me that again. Just… show him the ropes.” 

“Ohhh okay. I know a lot about ropes!” Integrity walked away and over to the rock man. “Hello! I’m Integrity Idleberry! Here to help you out! Take this jug!” 

“Um…” the rock man shivered. “Are you sure these elves aren’t gonna suck my blood?” 

“Well, um…. Yes. 1. Because you don’t have blood, I’m pretty sure. 2 because they aren’t all elves.” 

“They aren’t???” he shivered. 

“Yeah! I’m one of them and I’m not an elf!” 

“You’re not an elf??” He stepped back. “Oh geez oh man….” 

Integrity dropped the jug in front of Rock Jerry. “Good luck, have fun!” And then walked away, leaving the rock man to try and figure out how to distribute blood. She walked back over to the two adults. “It’s all done, Papa Artis!” 

Artis didn’t respond, instead busy being in a daze. Fidan waved a hand in front of his face. “You okay, dear?” 

“Hm?” He snapped out of it. “Yeah, just, um…” 

“Thinking about Mara again?” Integrity smiled. “Me too. But don’t worry! I’m sure she’s having fun!” 

“You think so?” He looked down at her. 

“I know I did. And you two did too!” 

“Yeah… That’s what I’m worried about.” He huffed. 

Fidan held his hand. “C’mon. Let’s introduce Integrity to some of her fellow people here.” 

“Hell yeah! Seems fun!” Integrity jumped up and shook a vampire’s hand, a small 30 year old who seemed very shocked and surprised. “What’s up! My name is Integrity Idleberry, level 7 tiefling vampire rogue!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you love Integrity and Artis and Fidan and are thankful for all their contributions to the story!


	159. first day of first year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: dylan and i exchanged spotify accounts and he kinda made fun of me for having katy perry on my study playlist but like, joke’s on him, because “just because it’s over doesn’t mean it’s really over’ is a great song

I quickly adjusted my hair in the mirror. Ugh, Mara. Why are you freaking out? This is all gonna go fine. You have nothing to worry about. It’s just new people. It’s just… the first day. People aren’t gonna judge you, right? I mean, it’s the first day for everybody, isn’t it? So they won’t judge you because they’ll be nervous about being judged too right?? Right??? 

Ughhhh. This was so frickin annoying. I adjusted my hair some more. 

I also did some light version of that makeup stuff Integrity showed me. Nothing, like, too advanced?? Just some mascara and winged eyeliner and some concealer for my scar. I thought about black lipstick, but like… It’s the first day and… well, okay, I’m nervous. 

And I was also gonna be late!! Crap! 

I quickly grabbed my book bag and rushed out of my dorm room, hoping that I could make it to the main area in time. Granted I had been in this castle before so I knew the layout a bit better than some other people but, like, still!! I had never been late before! Mainly because I had never been in a situation that would cause me to be late before but like whatever!! 

I was running so fast that I didn’t even notice when I ran into the tall adult woman and fell over. I tripped and landed right on my knee. “Ow! Sorry about that-” 

“Ms Artisan? Where are you off to in such a hurry?” 

Aw crap. It was her. Serine- I mean, Headmistress Sinderman. She looked down at me, a sweet smile on her face. I wasn’t thinking too hard about it. I was just worried about if I had gotten some of my makeup on her nice gown. I would feel so bad! “Um, hi, um, headmistress. I was just…” 

“On the way to meet your group? Oh you’re going to be late.” 

“Yeah, haha that’s why… that’s why I was running…” 

“Well.” She held out her hand and helped me back up to my feet. She dusted off the shoulders of my t-shirt. “I hope you have a good first day with them. Send them my regards, will you?” 

“Will do, ma’am! Thank you!” And with that, I kept running into the main area, the “cafeteria” i guess we were calling it now, trying to be even more extra careful that I didn’t bump into anymore people (Headmistress Sinderman was the only administration member I already knew so if I ran into anymore I might be COL, crap outta luck) 

Finally I made my way there. It was… overwhelming. A bunch of those tables with benches attached? And a bunch of people sitting in them, almost all of them around my age but some a bit older. Gosh, this was hard. How was I going to find my group?? I looked down at the card I was given. I was part of Team NAME? Hm. 

I kept walking around, looking for the table that had the NAME card on it. There were a few groups which made it hard. I noticed a FACE and a TEAM team as well as some others but finally I found it - NAME. There were three people (and some sort of deer) sitting there at the table. They all looked at me suspiciously as I awkwardly sat down. 

“Um, hi!” I said, adjusting myself. 

“Hey,” said the girl next sitting next to the deer. She had dark skin and long dark brown hair arranged in two long ponytails. She was wearing a red leather jacket and a long green scarf. “I take it you’re our fourth member?” 

“Um, I believe so!” I smiled. 

“What’s your name?” she asked, raising a brow. 

“Oh, well, um…” I adjusted my posture and tried to add as much energy as I could into it while sitting down. “Mara Artisan! Level 9 vampire half elf!” I smiled, beaming with pride, just like I was taught. 

She looked… unimpressed. “Uh-huh. I’m Elk Drummer.” 

“Elk Drummer?” I looked at her confused. “Why do they call you Elk Drummer?” 

“Because I like to drum on elk. Duh.” And then she pet the deer, er, elk sitting next to her. “This is Slick. Don’t ask about the name. My sister gave it to him.” 

“Hi Slick!” I held out my hand to shake it and he returned the favor. What a nice deer! As I broke the handshake, the boy sitting next to Elk Drummer held out his hand as well. He was a boy with red skin and short, purple hair that was arranged as neatly as it could around his small curved horns. He had large round glasses over his yellow eyes and some bandaid on his cheek. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Mara!” He shook my hand. “My name is Arroyo Tremors.” 

“Wait…. Tremors?” Elk Drummer put her finger to her chin. “Of the Tremors family?” 

The boy took his hand away and immediately looked awkward. “Um, yes.” 

Elk Drummer began laughing. “Oh my god. Your dad burned down the Ophelian library, didn’t he? Ah damn, lotta people still pissed about that.” 

“Uh, well…” His face blushed. “Yes, but… The Tremors… we aren’t… all like that….” 

“I believe you!” I smiled at him. I wasn’t quite sure what Ophelian was but it sounded serious. But I mean… Arroyo seemed okay? I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least. 

We all turned our eyes to the final girl of the group, who was sitting in the corner, seemingly spaced away from the rest of us (or as much as she could be at a lunch table). She had light green skin with a strange texture to it, almost like scales. Her hair was… kinda blue, kinda green? And it was shaved off on the sides to give almost a mohawk with a bun look. She was wearing what appeared to be circus clothes? If I had to guess what circus clothes looked like. 

“Um. Hi. My name is Neska,” she said quietly, rubbing one of her dark circled eyes. 

“Nice to meet ya!” I held out my hand for her to shake it but she just looked at it, nervous, as if I had pointed a gun at her. Reluctantly, though, she extended her hand and shook mine. It felt… cold. 

I put my hand back to the side. “So, um. What brings you all to Wild Cliff?” 

Elk Drummer shrugged. “I’m just here because my older sister is dating the headmistress.” 

“Oh cool!” I gushed. I absentmindedly wondered if I knew her sister. “I’m here because I did a favor for the Headmistress.” 

“Oh…” Neska looked down, rubbing her arm nervously. “I’m… only enrolled because my guardian, Mr. Bonzalez, got hired here.” 

Arroyo looked worried. “Am I the only one here because I tested well??” 

We all shrugged. 

“So, uh…” Neska spoke up. “Does anyone know what we’re supposed to do here?” 

Elk Drummer just sat back and rested her head on Slick. “Dunno. I guess just wait until instructions for classes.” 

“Guess so!” Arroyo said. “We can start going over the notes. Everyone got the required textbooks and reading done?” 

“We’re supposed to read?” I asked. 

Suddenly a cat hopped onto the table. A red cat. We all kinda jumped. Slick growled at it. This was… strange. It didn’t even look like that other cat Veronica had. This one looked… way less creepy. 

“Ah.” The cat spoke with a dramatic low voice. 

“You can talk??” Neska yelled, surprised. 

“Cats don’t usually talk?” I asked, confused. 

“You’re students here, correct?” the cat continued. 

Arroyo adjusted his glasses. “Um. Well, we haven’t technically had our first class yet, but…” 

The cat interrupted him. “Ah, good. I need help with something super quick. Follow me.” 

“Um…” I gulped. “What’s this about?” 

“There’s something here in the castle I need investigated, and, well.” The cat held up a paw. “Can’t exactly do that in this form now, can I?” 

“Uhhhh.” I looked at the rest of the group, who all looked nervous. All except for Elk Drummer. 

“Ahhh what the hell.” She smiled and stood up. “What’s school for if not a little bit of adventure?” 

Arroyo hesitantly stood up. “I mean… I guess… so long as we’re back in time for classes....” 

Neska just stood and crossed her arms, still looking… weirdly shy. 

I turned to the cat. “Wait. What’s your name?” 

The cat sat back on two of his legs. “Hm. I’ve had my fair share of names. For you all? You can call me Reichenbach.” He hopped down off the table and onto the ground. “Now come on. We don’t have much time. Follow me.” 

And so Neska, Arroyo, me and Elk Drummer all went together, following whatever adventure we were about to be taken on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you’re excited for mara’s adventures with her friends!


	160. momentary bliss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I asked Alec if he minded that i still hang out with Allysa and Dylan given our histories and he was like ‘no? Why would it?” and like… tha’ts nice

I kept writing down things in my journal. 

Fuck, why did nobody ever tell me journalling was so fun? Like fucking hell did they just think Veronica Sonya Elm Rune just didnt’ deserve to be able to write shit down? 

Then again… it’s not like I was doing this all for fun. More than anything it was… an outlet. 

It had been a year since we’d moved into the house and honestly? Couldn’t be happier. Lovely time. Great time. Can’t complain.

But… 

I wasn’t used to this… 

Nothing. 

And… 

Well… 

I think about things. A lot. 

But whatever. I just went back to making my list. 

“You’re still working on that?” Macavity said, sitting in his high chair, plate of spaghetti in front of him. 

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, not even looking up. 

“Well take this thing off me, at least.” He messed with the fabric on his neck. “I’m done eating for now.” 

I sighed. “God, you’re such a needy asshole, you know that?” 

“Yes.” He smiled as I reached over and pulled the velcro off Macavity’s bib. He hopped down off of the high chair and began walking across the floor, probably off to go do some asshole cat shit. Idk how Winsler dealt with it because geeez. 

I kept focusing more on my list, just putting down anything I could think of. It was… relaxing. Cathartic. I knew it didn’t mean anything but… It was nice to think about. Suddenly I heard the front door unlock. Shit. She was home. I quickly switched the page to a drawing I had done earlier this morning. 

“Hey!” Mira said, big paper bag in her arms. She walked up and kissed me on the cheek. “What’s up?” 

“Ahh not much.” I pushed my notebook away from me “What’s in the bag?” 

“Oh! Some books I found at the store!” 

I chuckled. “Y’know, I can make any book you possibly want to read appear right?” 

She shrugged. “Yeah. But where’s the fun in that?” 

I didn’t have a response. 

She set the bag down and leaned over me. “Ooh. Nice drawing. I didn’t know you could draw.” 

“I couldn’t.” 

“Really? When did you learn?” 

“This morning.” 

She laughed. “Holy shit. Who’s this of, anyway?” 

I looked at the drawing of a man with glasses and short messy brown hair and a long beard. “Uh. This is my dad. Or, um. What my memories say that Professor Elm Rune would’ve looked like.” 

“Oh… I didn’t realize… you still had those…” 

“Yeah….” 

“What else do you draw in there?” She flipped the page to a drawing I did of this many armed, many eyed goat headed man. She almost flipped the page to the list, but… 

I covered my arm over it. “Uhhh. Not much.” 

There was a silence. 

I closed the notebook. 

Mira took Macavity’s plate off the table. “Well, I’m gonna clean up a bit.” 

“Oh yeah sorry. He just finished it up.” 

“No worries! There are a few I need to work on, anyway.” She set the plate in the sink and began scrubbing it. It was nice watching her just… exist. I never got tired of it. I also enjoyed when she did dishes because tbh I’ve never done them before and don’t really get how they work. But whatever. I went to put my notebook back in its place in my desk cabinet. 

She took plate by plate from the wet side of the sink to the dry side and it was all nice and cool and stuff but then I guess one of them must have gotten too wet because it slipped out of her hand and shattered hard against the floor. “Ah fuck!” I heard her yell as I walked back into the room. I saw the shattered plate on the ground. Oh, that wasn’t good. Without really thinking, I held out my hand and snapped my fingers and suddenly the plate was surrounded by white and black light. It seemed to be moving in reverse, the pieces of it lifting up into the air and connecting back together until it was back in the wet side of the sink. 

It didn’t even occur to me what I just did until I noticed Mira was staring at me for a few moments. “Oh,” she said. 

“Oh.” That was all i could say back. 

“That, uh…. That didn’t look like reality magic.” 

“Yeah, um. That’s because… that’s because it was time magic.” 

“Ah.” 

Beat. 

“I’m sorry.” I held her hand. “Sincerely. I am. I should have told you.” 

“No, I mean…” She backed away from me. “I mean… I always wondered if you… but… I wasn’t sure how it worked, y’know?” 

“Right yeah.” I held my own hand. “But I mean, hey. This doesn’t change anything about me, y’know, right? I’m still the same immortal powerful godbeing you fell in love with, just… a little more powerful.” 

She was silent for a moment and then blinked. “Right. Yeah. Just the same.” 

I held her in my arms and she put her arms around mine and we just… stood there in the kitchen for a while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review if you support veronica and mira


	161. slown down moments in time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i still cry when i think about mom sometimes. It’s not good tears or bad tears though. Just tears

“How’s it taste?” Mira asked me. I looked down at my plate. It was something quite unusual. Something called smack barm pey wet? Idk. We had… sorta ran out of conventional food choices for me to try and were now just sorta going with whatever sounded interesting. But my mind wasn’t really on it. 

“Y’know, it tastes fine?” I took another bite. 

“That’s good.” Mira wiped her mouth. “Oh! Serinepth sent a message to us. She said that she wanted us to come visit for Wild Cliff’s second anniversary.” 

“We gonna go?” 

“I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve seen everyone. Plus I have a lot of fond memories of the original Wild Cliff, and well….” She cracked a little smile. “It would be kinda nice to go back.” 

“Yeah, makes sense…” I took another bite. “You’re lucky. You got a school experience. I was just in the sewers for a few months.” 

“Well does the train count as school?” 

“Wild Cliff Express was _barely_ a school.” 

“Yeaaah fair point.” She paused and shook her head. “Serinepth also asked if I could perform while I’m there.” 

“Oh?” I put my sandwich down. “You gonna do it?” 

She looked nervous. “I mean, I don’t know… I haven’t really played in… gosh, a year or so. I’ll have to practice a lot…” 

“Well I always like when you play music.” I smiled. “But also that’s your choice so like idk do what you wanna do, y’know?” 

“Yeah!” She perked up but then looked… sad. That was weird. 

I tried not to push her too hard about it. 

We went to bed pretty soon after. 

Or well, I at least tried to. 

I kept having these… nightmares. I’d been having them for months now. It’s just… everyone dying. One by one. Serinepth and then Winsler and then Raven and then Integrity and then Mira and just… Over and over. Everyone dying. And that multihanded person. And Seltie. And something about coming home. And…. fuck fuck fuck 

I bolted upright. Ugh. Fucking hell. 

Mira was still sound asleep next to me. No sense waking her up. Last thing I wanted to do was worry her anymore. I snuck out of the covers and made my way downstairs and opened up the front door. I needed some fresh air. Standing there in the doorway, I used my reality powers to conjure up a cigarette and then lit it. I took a drag. 

It was fucking bullshit. Why am I having nightmares? Why does someone like me even need to sleep?? This fucking sucks. And… fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. 

The worst part is? 

I know why I’m having the dreams. 

And I know how to make them stop. 

But… 

FUCK 

I felt two arms wrap around me and a head rest on my shoulder. “Hey.” Mira said. “What’s up?” 

I took a drag. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” 

“Shouldn’t you be telling me what’s going on?” 

“Nah.” 

...

I took another drag. “Sorry,” I said. 

“Veronica.” She turned me around and took the cigarette out of my hand and crushed it on the floor. “I’m not an idiot. Something has been on your mind for… a while now. And if there’s anyone you can tell, it should be me.” 

“I…. no. No, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.” 

She looked at me, sad at first but with a bit of irritation creeping in until finally she stormed off. I went to summon up another cigarette but before I could, she came back with something in her hand. It was… my notebook. 

“Hey! Give that ba-” I was interrupted by her reading it. 

“ _Things I Could Go Back and Do: Prevent the destruction of prime universe, prevent Raven from getting the Chaos Emerald, prevent Prime Artis from dying, prevent Axe from dying, prevent the train from crashing, prevent Corka from taking over, prevent Raven from creating her clone, prevent…”_ She stopped, flipped through the notebook, showing several more pages of things I had listed out. “ _Become the new Shepherd of Potentiality._ Veronica. What is this?” 

“You… you weren’t supposed to see that.” 

“Well I did.” She snapped the notebook shut. “I’ve known about the list for a while. I didn’t bring it up because I knew you wanted to keep it secret. I figured it was just a therapeutic thing for you. But then…” 

“But then the time stuff.” 

“Exactly.” She handed me the notebook. “Veronica, you aren’t thinking of… are you?” 

“I… I mean, I could?” 

“But you aren’t, right??” 

“I…” i huffed. “I mean… it’s something I think about.” 

“Hypothetically or literally??” 

“I don’t know!” I yelled. “I don’t… I just… you don’t understand.” 

She grabbed my hands. “Then make me! Please! I want to understand where you’re coming from! I really do!” 

“Well what if you could fix everything wrong that happened, huh?? Everything that you ever got sad about? Everything someone else fucked up? Everything YOU fucked up? All the evil shit you did just… gone. Repaired and fixed.” 

“But then that last part. Becoming the Shepherd. What does that mean?” 

“I mean… right now the universes are unguarded. Who’s there to stop someone else from abusing it? Someone like Seltie? And I have that power. I have that ability. I could make sure everything works out for everyone!” 

“You’d be leaving me!” She screamed. “You’d be leaving us!” 

“YEAH I KNOW. WHY DO YOU THINK I HAVEN’T DONE IT?” 

I stormed into the house and fell down on the couch, face looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I just… There’s nothing worth doing more than the right thing.” 

She slowly walked over and laid down next to me. “You should do it.” 

I sat up. “What?” 

“You should go… shouldn’t you?” 

“I… Mira. I don’t wanna lose you.” 

“Do you think I wanna lose you?” She laughed, but it was a false one. One to relieve her own tensions. “I’ve lost… so much already. My sisters. My father. My Delnys. I… I don’t wanna lose you too.” 

I wrapped my arms around her. “I don’t have to. I can stay. I can… I can figure something out.” 

She let out another forced chuckle. “Veronica, I don’t… I don’t want you to get bored here. Or feel like this is an obligation. Or come up with some half measure thing. I… the last thing I wanna be is an anchor.” 

“Well…” I held her hand as tight as I could. “I can… figure something out. Once this is all over. Once I fix everything. Or maybe even once a new Shepherd is appointed. I can come back. I can… I can come back.” 

She was silent for a moment. She still wasn’t looking at me in the eyes. “I have a question.” 

“... yeah?” 

“One of the things on that list. It involves undoing your creation. It involves… undoing a lot of what happened to us. What’s going to happen then? What’ll happen to you?” 

I huffed. I was hoping she wouldn’t ask this. “Well, um. Based on what Seltie said, it sounds like when I go back… this timeline, the ruined one, if we wanna call it that… it’ll still exist. And there will just be other, new fixed timelines created. And their existence will continue on there.” 

“And what’ll happen to you?” 

“... I honestly don't know.” 

A few more moments of silence. “Then I need you to do me a favor.” 

“Of course.” 

“You can slow down time, right?”

“.. Yeah?” 

She finally turned to face me. She locked eyes with mine. She held my hand. “Then slow down this night. This one final night. Make it… make it last as long as possible.” 

I smiled warmly. “Of course.” 

There’s this assumption that when you’re the point of view character that you’re entitled to share everything that happened. It’s your obligation to disclose all of what you experienced. And honestly? Fuck that. That final night between Mira and I? That’s mine. And I’ll keep it disclosed for myself. It’s my memory. 

I’ll just leave you with this. 

I woke up, Mira laying next to me in bed, Macavity at our feet, also asleep. I didn’t want to wake them. Mira requested…. Mira requested that I leave while she wasn’t here to convince me to stay. I gave her a final kiss on the forehead and gave Macavity one little head scritch, just for old time’s sake. 

I got into the closet and prepared the best outfit I could and did my makeup as best as possible. Nothing too complicated, just a dark purple smokey eyeshadow look with heavy cheek contouring and deep pink lipstick. I… had to redo it with my powers a few times because I kept ruining the look by crying.   
  


I took one last look at the house. Last? No. I’ll be back sometime. Yeah. I’ll be back. I ran my fingers along everything, taking it all in. I looked at my notebook and the list inside of it. Sighing, I stuck it in my bag. Needed to make sure I didn’t forget anything I had to do. Before I could, though, I noticed a post it note placed on one of the pages, slightly sticking out. 

_Hey,_

_Don’t forget about me, okay?_

_Love,_

_Mira_

The i was dotted with a heart.

Oh you bitch. Making me cry before I left. I walked back upstairs and looked at the two of them on the bed. I wiggled my fingers and a post it note appeared on Mira’s forehead. 

_Mira,_

_Of course I won’t forget you, you fucking moron_

_Love,_

_Veronica_

I smiled. 

Alright. 

So this was it. 

I breathed in. Took one last look. 

And then. 

I snapped my fingers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review to send your warm regards to Veronica


	162. family dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so last night after dinner, dad went out on a walk with Janet and... proposed!! Holy crap!! I’m so proud of him!! Ahhhh!!

She sat the plates down nervously. How many should she put down? 2? Or 3? Was it foolish? Was it dumb to expect a third person to come? No, of course not. Of course he was going to show up. He had to. He wouldn’t miss this. Not the first dinner of the holidays. He wouldn’t miss it for the world. 

“Darling,” Fred said, leaning back in his chair, paper in front of him, pipe in his mouth. “Stop shaking so much. It’ll all be fine.” 

“I know, I know,” Kathy said, her voice trembling. “It’s just… we haven’t heard from Murundeen in so long. He’s okay, right?” 

“Of course he’s okay!” He responded, though with some shakiness. “He’s just… busy. You know how kids are with school. Probably off studying or hanging out with his friends or playing sports or something.” 

“I know, I know…” She took a tong and put some spaghetti down on her plate and then put some on her husband’s. Then she poured two glasses of wine for herself. “Might as well go ahead and start, right?” 

“Right! Right right right!” He grabbed his fork and digged in. It was silent. Most dinners these days it was silent. 

….

………

She took a sip of her wine. 

……..

….

He took a bite of spaghetti. 

….

  
  


……

There was a knock on the door. And then the door opened. They turned their heads to look. 

“Woof, sorry it took me so long!” Murundeen said, taking off his gloves and hanging his coat up on the coat rack by the door. 

“Murundeen!” Kathy got up off the chair and went to give him a hug. “What were you doing?? Why didn’t you send a letter or call?” 

“Sorry!” He hugged her back. “With all the heavy snow outside, Conductor Dain didn’t want us leaving the train for Stivmas Break until he was sure it was safe for every student.” 

Fred stood up from his chair. “Well that  _ Dain  _ is gonna get a strongly worded letter when I’m done with him. Good to see ya, sport.” He shook his son’s hand. 

Murundeen returned the shake, making sure to give it a hard squeeze like his dad taught him. “Good to see you too. Oh shoot! Did y’all make spaghetti? I freakin’ love spaghetti!” 

Kathy rubbed his shoulders and directed him to his seat. “I know! I wanted to make sure you had your favorite! Now come on! Dig in!” 

And with that, the Purebones sat down and enjoyed a nice family meal, one they had enjoyed several times before and would enjoy several more times afterwards. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review for murundeen and the purebone family!!


	163. bring em back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alyssa and Michelle are so cute together and she looks so happy, i’m so glad she’s found someone right for her

“Winsler! Your friends are here!” 

He picked up his hat and adjusted his glasses. Friends? Who would visit him here? Who  _ could  _ visit him here? Regardless, he gave Jellifer a pat on the shoulder. “Thank ya, darlin’” and walked out of the record store they had converted into a house. 

WInsler had changed a lot in his two years here in the Gooverse, as he liked to call it. He had grown exponentially, a whole inch, and had gotten smaller glasses. On his chin was a nice little soul patch, which Jellifer said made him look “mature” and “sophisticated.” He also bought Mr. Wiggles a monocle because he asked for one. 

Regardless, he adjusted his hat and stepped outside to see his two visitors, faces he hadn’t seen in a while. Delnys and Train Mira, looking the same as always. Well… except older. Delnys had her hair cut in a bob and Train Mira had hers in long braids. They were holding each other's hands. 

“Well, pleasure seeing y’all here! What’s the occasion?” Winsler smiled and then squinted his eyes. There were gold rings on their left hands. “And uh, when were you gonna tell us about that?” 

“If I told you, your lot would’ve somehow found a way to ruin the ceremony,” Delnys snarled though her face lightened up a bit. Winsler guessed she was probably kidding. 

“We just wanted to have a private wedding, nothing special!” Train Mira said, rubbing Delnys’ hand. 

“Well congrats! Always were rooting for you two!” Winsler said, despite not having known either of these versions of his friends for all that long. “So what brings you here?” 

“Right, well… We need your partner. No offense.” Train Mira smiled apologetically. 

“None taken. Jellifer!” 

After hearing the sound of Winsler’s voice, Jellifer came out, still in their goo form. They looked over. “Oh hey you! How’s my goo treating you?” 

“Good! I’ve gotten used to it, at least.” Train Mira gave them a hug. “That’s… actually kinda what we’re here for.” 

“Oh?” Jellifer looked confused. 

“Well… It seemed to work so well last time.” 

Delnys interrupted. “We noticed Mira had an influx of souls in her from… I guess some point in time from the battle with Seltie. Can’t really remember it all too well. And so we went look for more that possibly released.” 

“Ahhh” Jellifer looked around. “Wellll. I mean. It has gotten pretty lonely here, just me and Winsler and the bees.” 

The bees buzzed angrily, dissatisfied by being called boring. 

“Are they all… y’know…” Winsler gulped. “Inside you?” 

“Wellll,” Train Mira huffed. “Only some of them? Most of them? There were three in particular we wanted to make sure didn’t get… mixed up. Babe, you have the ghost jug, right?” 

“Of course I do.” Delnys got a giant jar out of her bag. “Jellifer. Are you ready?” 

“Yeah sure! Sounds fun!” They looked over to Winsler. “If that’s okay with you.” 

Winsler shrugged. “I like friends.” 

“Alright then!” Jellifer went and took a knife from Winsler’s pocket and sliced off their fingers. They then presented them to the two. “Will this be enough?” 

“Should be.” Delnys said as she let the fingers touch the ground and then dumped out the ghost jug down onto them as three red balls of energy landed in each pile of goop. As they did, something similar to what happened to Train Mira started to happen, as the energy and goo merged and began to form like modeling clay into something… more humanoid in appearance (though only one of them was human). 

Before long, three figures were standing there, who appeared very similar to Integrity, Serinepth and Winsler. 

“What the hell? What the fuck happened to us??” Lady Integrity said. 

“I don’t knowwww whatever I had before hand must’ve like… put me on a really bad trip.” Train Serinepth giggled. 

“Ah yes. Yes this is quite bad,” Inspector Winsler adjusted his glasses. “I’ll have to do what I can to be on the case.” 

“No no, it’s fine, no case to solve” Train Mira hopped in front of them. “You’re from my train universe, we all lost our bodies to people from another universe, now we’re all goo.” 

“I’m goo? What the fuck?” Lady Integrity wacked her arm and saw it jiggle like Jello. “This is lame.” 

“It is but it works,” Train Mira sighed. 

“So then what happened to the murder?” Inspector Winsler said. “I feel like that’s something y’all should be worried about?” 

“And what about my boyfriend, Murundeen? Is he okay?” Lady Integrity asked. 

“Oh gosh.” Winsler gulped. “Y’all have a lot to catch up on.” 

Winsler took them aside and told them the tale of book 2 while Delnys and Mira Raethran took their turns constructing new goo bodies (or goodies, if you wanna call them that) for every soul Mira had trapped inside of her until finally the Gooverse had inhabitants once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review in celebration of Winsler and Mr. Wiggles! They deserve it!


	164. life for me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: y’know, looking at all i have now.. My dad, my new stepmom, my boyfriend, my best friend Alyssa… things might’ve gotten rough but… i’m glad i have people here to help me through it

I gave one last stab through the neck of a pirate. Fuck yeah!! I did it! My blue blade retracted back into its handle and I looked around to see Pirate Fidan. 

“Arg, good job, Raven!” 

“Thanks!” I said. “So is that it?” 

“Aye. I believe so. Tis was the last Sheoran general, meanin’...” She looked off in the distance, wistfully. “The Pirate War is officially over.” 

“Aw damn,” Mi’ra said, jumping down off the roof. “I was hoping to get the last kill.” 

“As if you could kill anything,” Winslayer snarled. 

“I can kill more than you, nerffucker!” Mi’ra got out her saber. 

“Friends!” i got in between them. “We’re not here for fighting! Each other!” 

“Maybe you’re not. Maybe you’re here for other things…” Mi’ra gave me a smirk as she moved her eyes over to Inqiuity, who was off on her own, cleaning blood off of her cloak. 

I punched her in the arm. “Don’t.” 

“What?” My best friend Mi’ra said, grinning playful at me. 

“Arg, children,” Pirate Fidan grabbed us. “It ain’t fully over yet. We still have to deal with the prisoner.” 

“Can I stab this one?” Mi’ra pleaded. 

“Narg. This one be mine.” Pirate Fidan walked away and into the tent. I looked towards the others and shrugged and followed after her. RIP to the rest of the Black Parade but I was different. 

I went into the tent and saw Captain Underbow on the ground, tied up, just how Iniquity had left him. “Well well well,” he cursed. “Fidan. As I live and breathe.” 

“Ye won’t be for long.” She took out a rapier and held it up to his throat. “Ye will pay for your crimes against me.” 

I looked at Pirate Fidan with whatever the best version of puppy dog eyes a vampire like me could muster. She met my gaze. And she looked pissed off at first and then huffed and put her sword down. 

“Which is why….” She snarled. “Ye will be facin’ trial and imprisonment for ye misdeeds.” 

Underbow laughed. “Hah. That’s all? Ye weak Fidan. Can’t even kill me.” 

“Nah. I reckon’ i be the strongest of them all.” She began to walk away. “And that’s Captain Fidan to ye.” 

I stuck my tongue out at Underbow and then walked out of the tent and back with the others. Iniquity had gathered up with the group and were all talking. She looked so cool, especially with her eyepatch. She didn’t lose an eye or anything, she just saw one of the pirates wearing one and thought it looked cool so she killed him and then stole it and put it on.The group all straightened up as Captain Fidan walked over to them. 

“Hey, uh, thanks for letting us help out with this, ma’am,” Winslayer said. “These last two years fighting this war by your side has been gr-” 

“We’re still getting paid, right?” Iniquity interrupted. 

“Yar. Of course ye are,” Captain Fidan said. She opened her pocket sack and took out a bunch of gold doubloons. She put it into each of their hands. I held out mine but instead she just ruffled my hair. 

“Hey!” I whined. “Why don’t I get paid?” 

“Ye don’t get paid for bein’ my second hand, dumbass.” She smiled at me. 

“But… you don’t have a second hand?” I was confused. “It’s a hook.” 

“Yar, Raven, stop being a herbo,” she said as she wrapped me into a hug. 

I hugged her back. i still wasn’t sure what she was talking about but like this was a sweet thing and i didn’t wanna ruin it by having a Raven moment, y’know? 

We stayed up late that night, back aboard Captain Fidan’s ship, which I guess was now the world capitol? Idk I don’t understand pirate law. I was in my cabin when someone knocked on the door. 

“Yeah?” 

Iniquity opened up. “Sup fucker!” 

“Oh, uh, hey!” I smiled back. 

“I figured someone like you would be out there celebrating with the rest of us.” She sat down on my bed. “Unless you’re too much of a fucking loser to party.” 

“I am not a loser!” I yelled. “I just… I’ve been doing some thinking.” 

“You have a brain enough to think?” She smirked but then her face straightened out. “Sorry. I’ll stop with the whole… mean thing for a bit.” 

“I just… been thinking about… like, what to do now?” 

“What? Now that we won?” 

“Well, I mean, technically Fidan won, not us. We were just… helpers. It wasn’t our fight.” 

“Then what is our fight?” 

“I don’t know!” I huffed. “I just… surely there’s gotta be stuff out there that we can do, right? Ways to help people?” 

She shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, you’re the one with the universe hopping powers, right?” 

That was right. 

I turned to her. “Um, Iniquity? Can we take this a bit later? I kinda have to go talk to someone. Get some advice.” 

“Later? Ugh, boo, you suck. I was hoping we could have fun.” She scowled. 

“I’ll be right back! Probably! You never know with her, right?” 

“With who?” 

And with that, I opened up a blue portal and made my way to another universe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review in support of pirate fidan and the black parade :)


	165. best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: i would like to give a special shoutout to my best friend Alyssa, without this none of the story would be possible. Please leave a review thanking Alyssa

I stepped through to see a house. I had never been here before actually, but I remember it being described to me. Was kinda neat tbh. Apparently my clone had good taste (which she probably got from me) but I guess she might’ve gotten help too. 

I went to walk up to knock on the front door before I hesitated. This was… dumb. What would I even say? Would Veronica even want to hear from me?? Like she probably hates me?? I mean that last convo we had was good but we haven’t really kept in touch since then?? Ahh fuck this was a mistake shit shit shit time to retreat time to turn around an

As I did, the door opened. Mira, her hair long and straight, looking… older than the last time I saw her. Like three years older. “Oh.” She said, cold but with a bit of surprise. “Raven.” 

“Uh, hey. Um…” I turned back around to face her. “Is, uh… Is Veronica here?” 

“Oh. You must not have gotten the memo.” 

I was super confused. “Memo? Memo about what? Is there a mailing list?” 

“No, it’s…” She wiped hair out of her face. “Come inside. I’ll make some tea or something.” 

I felt a bit awkward but, uh, sure why not? I walked through the door and checked out the house. It was pretty bitchin’, ngl. There were several framed vinyl records on the wall that I realized… wait.. Had Mira’s face on them? Plus some huge ass bookshelves and a framed post it note. And a bunch of gold awards and trophies.

“Oh those?” Mira asked, noticing me looking at them. “Yeah those are something called Grammys. They’re from another universe but pretty worthless, from what I can tell.” 

“But you won them? That’s cool as shit.” 

“Yeah, after Veronica left I started getting really into music again. Took that pretty far.” 

“Woah that’s cool! Congrats!” I sat down at the table as she walked to the kitchen. “So, uh… she left? Where’d she go?” 

She got out a kettle and sat it on the stove. “Hah. If only I knew exactly.” 

“... She just like… walked out and left?” 

“Nah. I mean, she doesn’t have to walk unless she wants to. I don’t know.” She got out two mugs. Suddenly I saw a furry creature emerge from the living room and step up to me. 

“Who is it?” Macavity whined, walking around slowly. “Oh. Ew. Raven.” 

“Sorry have we met?” I asked him. 

“I don’t remember,” he said as he hopped onto the kitchen counter. Mira absentmindedly pet him as she poured the tea in both our cups and returned. 

“Here you go.” She placed mine in front of me and then sat down in her chair, criss cross applesauce. 

“Thank you.” I took a sip. It was… okay. Could’ve used some more blood but honestly this was so awkward that I didn’t want to ask ‘hey do you have some spare blood i can put in this’ because yeah. “So she left?” 

“Yeah. Did some time travel shit. Rewriting history. Fixing things. Doesn’t matter. What’re you here for?” 

“Hm?” I removed the cup from my lips and adjusted my posture. “I was just… hoping to talk to her. Get some advice.” 

She chuckled. “What do you need advice on?” 

I was silent. “Nah, I mean… it’s dumb. It’s stupid.” 

“Nah, I mean. You can tell me.” 

I looked at her weirdly. Tf was she getting at? “Aren’t you busy, though?” 

She shrugged. “I’m on a break from my last album cycle. I can do whatever now.” 

I thought about it. It was hard to make feelings into words that come out of your mouth. “I guess I’ve just been struggling with, like… what to do now, y’know?” 

“Now?” 

“Yeah. Like now that y’know… all the bad stuff is done with. What now?” 

She chuckled. “God, you and Veronica really are alike.” 

“Is that a bad thing??” 

She took a sip of tea. “It’s just a thing.” 

“I see... “ 

“What do you WANT to do, Raven?” 

“I… guess just want to do good? And help people?” 

“Then do that.” 

“But I also wanna settle down with my friends and with PiCaptain Fidan?” 

“Then do that too.” 

“Yeah….” I took a sip of tea. “It’s just… weird to think about, y’know?” 

“Hah. Trust me. I get it.” 

“I guess nothing is stopping me, right? Maybe hop around, take care of any threats I notice but still coming back home?” 

“Yeah I mean. If you wanna fight your whole life, be my guest.”

“Yeah.” I put my cup down on the table. “How’s it been? Without her, I mean.” 

“Mmm. It was… hard at first. But… I think I’m fine.” 

“Yeah? Do you think she’ll come back?” 

She just shrugged. “Maybe she will. Maybe she won’t. I’m happy either way.” 

I wish I could have that. 

I stood up. “Well! This was fun. Sorry to disturb you. And, uh…. Sorry for the history. From us.” 

“Hm?” She seemed thrown off by the last part. “Raven. I haven’t thought about that stuff in… years.” 

“So you’re not still mad at me?” 

“No? Life is too short to be mad at your original best friend.” 

I smiled. “If you want, I can come back whenever you want to just… hang out.” 

She grinned. “Yeah. I’d like that.” 

I opened up a blue portal and stepped through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: leave a review in celebration of Mira and all her hard work!


	166. you or your memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: this is the final chapter of Wake Me Up When Trebuchets End and the final chapter of the Trials & Tragedies trilogy

“Ugh ewww grosss” I said as I took my lightsaber out of the corpse. It was bad enough that I was in this dirty ass sewer, but this giant snake woman was a huge fucking disgusting thing to deal with. I wasn’t sure if I should just leave her here or what. 

Did I have time to force lightning cook it? Iniquity would be expecting me back soon for date night. She always hated when i did these “multidimensional missions” like this but it’s not my fault that so much weird bad shit is going on everywhere?? Plus she should be used to it by now. I’ve been doing it for the past year. 

Whatever. 

I went to stretch out my hand to do some force lightning when I heard voices coming down the hall. Familiar voices. Was that… oh shit. That was this universe’s version of Delnys and Mira. Ah shit. Don’t wanna run into them. That would cause… a lot of potential questions and I like to keep a “low profile” nowadays. 

I opened a blue portal super quickly and without thinking about it. I didn’t care where I went, so long as it was somewhere not here. 

Thankfully I ended up in what seemed like a pretty peaceful place? Like it was some hallway with various different openings all leading to some big fountain area. Tbh it kinda looked… familiar? Though I couldn’t place it because it was slightly different. 

I was so distracted that I didn’t even notice as someone bumped into me. “Hey, watch it, dumbass!” she yelled. 

“Oh, so-” I stopped as I looked down and noticed who I was talking to. It was a woman with short wavy brown hair and emerald blue eyes which were perfectly made up. She was wearing long blue robes and carrying textbooks by her side. She looked… 

“What the fuck are you staring at?” she asked me, squinting. 

“Uh, nothing. Just you look…” I wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?” 

She rolled her eyes. “Veronica Sonya Elm Rune.” 

“Yeah that’s what I thought.” I backed away slightly. “Do you… do you recognize me?” 

“No? Am I supposed to?” She snorted. “Then again, I think I would remember a girl walking around my campus who looked like a walking goth stereotype.” 

“Your campus? You go to school here?” 

“God you ask a lot of stupid fucking questions. YES. I’m a second year transfiguration student. Who the fuck is asking?” 

“I….” I was speechless. “And are you sure you don’t recognize me?” 

“I swear I don’t.” 

I looked at her in the eyes as she spoke. I wasn’t sure but… did she twitch saying that? Did she… was she lying? I examined her face more closely, trying to figure out if there were any signs of her cracking. Was she bullshitting? Was she making this up? What the fuck was she up to? 

And then I realized: it doesn’t matter. 

“Okay,” I said. “Well, you can go do whatever it is you plan on doing. I’ll leave you alone.” 

“Was planning on it.” She walked away, head held high. I almost opened the portal out but then I saw something fall out of her bag and hit the ground. It was a small little post it note. I could read what it said because I could read any language. 

_ Hey,  _

_ Don’t forget about me, okay?  _

_ Love,  _

_ Mira _

I waved my hand up in the air. “Hey, uh, Veronica! You dropped this!” 

“Hm?” She turned around lazily until her eyes focused on my hand and she ran forward and grabbed it. “Give that back!” 

“Of course! Fucking hell!” I said. “It’s yours, anyway.” 

“Yeah, it is…” She looked at it curiously, and I had to think: was she fondly remembering something, or was she trying to make sense of it? I couldn’t tell. 

“Well, see ya later, Elm Rune!” I yelled, opening the portal behind me. 

  
“Whatever. See ya.” Veronica turned around and continued walking to wherever she was going. Wherever it was, I hoped it was good. But that was her own journey. What Veronica does shouldn’t involve me.

Until then… 

My name is Raven Willow Blood Charm and I’m 23 years old. I have long blue hair and pale white skin kinda like a dragon born. I’m a vampire, in case you couldn’t tell, but also a Sith Lord. I never got to finish school, but I did have two great sets of friends from them and a clone that I can look up to. And I can use what I learned from her to make the world a better place. In the end, that’s what it’s all about, right? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: wow. We finally reached the end, huh? Hard to imagine. First and foremost, thank you all to everyone who read this far. I had no idea when i started this almost a year ago that people would care about it or the direction my life has taken. I know it got… dark at some parts, and i can’t say it was all happy and a good time. But we made it through it all and we got here and i’m so grateful for that. Thanks for sticking by me and for sticking around. And also thank you to the cast and crew of Trials & Trebuchets. U rock! Thanks for letting me do this and klil you off in the story and for making such a good universe that I can totally ruin with my own version. And thank you to Alyssa for helping me proofread it and Alec, for sticking by me throughout all of this. 
> 
> I don’t know what’ll happen next. If i’ll write anymore or if you hear from me again. Hopefully you will! But who knows. I might just spend some time enjoying life and graduating high school, y’know? Anyways. 
> 
> Remember that no matter what happens from this point forward, you can always overcome it. Always. 
> 
> This story was dedicated to my mother, Laurie Doherty. I miss you every day. 
> 
> Love,   
> Mason

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Snack Episode! - V2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28300899) by [LukeDarling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukeDarling/pseuds/LukeDarling)




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